Hi Ken,
>I also observed that if you try find the file (say, "11954824.TMP") under \Windows\System (or the TMP directory), it does not exist physically!
As far as I know VFP will keep the cursor in memory (even though DBF() returns a TMP file) until it gets too large when it will actually be written to disk.

Since the TMP file cannot be assumed to exist at any given time the only reliable way to access a cursor is via its alias, which is not visible between data sessions.

Let me know if this makes sense.
Ned