>>how are you checking to see it is shared ? Also, check to see the file name >and path of your table are correct. I've seen people rename the table from >inside the dbc and they didn't realize that it only aliases the table. -jack
>
>I can tell it's not exclusive because 1)it doesn't say so on the status bar, 2)when I try to pack it later (after the transaction) it says it must be open exclusive, and 3)isexclusive() returns .f.
>
>The funny thing is I can open it elsewhere exclusive just fine--just not in that one particular transaction.

Do you already have that table open with another alias? If it's already open as shared, it will remain shared, even if you specify exclusive. And you don't get an error telling you that.