Hi Bob,
>With a text field on a form how can I have the forecolor set according to the value of the field, i.e. if gender=1 the text should appear in Red, if gender=2 text in blue etc
It sounds like you should be using a checkbox, combobox or option group instead of a textbox to me. Then on in the interactive change event you could put your code.
*INTERACXTIVE CHANGE METHOD
this.forecolor=iif(this.value=1, RGB(255,0,0), RGB(0,0,255))