Ed:

Thanks for both of the answers.

Rob



>>I am new to VFP and the concept of an Alias is bothering me a bit.
>>
>>When working with the database designer, I do not see any method to permanently connect the name of a .dbf with its alias.
>>
>>How does VFP know that the alias for customer.dbf is "cust."
>>
>>Why use an alias in the first place?
>>
>>Rob
>
>By default, Alias==Name, but you can change the alias to something more readable. For this purpose, you could use DataEnvironment.Cursor.Alias property or in code USE customer ALIAS cust.
>There are some more sophisticated reasons (e.g. USE AGAIN), but I don't want to confuse you now.