>it looks like that just opens a new file in the current work area i want to open in a seperate one and close in that same one that i opened in
>would that still do the same thing for me


If you want to open a table in an already used area, do:

SELECT aliasname
USE filename

This will open the new table (with the alias "filename") in the same area that the old table (alias "aliasname") used to be in. Now only 1 table is open in 1 area.

If there is already a table open with the alias "customers" and you want to close "customers" and open the new table "invoices" in the same area:

SELECT customers
USE invoices