>If I understand you correctly, you want to be able to access a table and change a field (in this case a DATE) FROM THE COMMAND WINDOW and then have any other program using that same file "see" the changed field right away. But you do NOT want to issue FLUSH from the COMMAND window. Since you do not want to issue flush, I guess you do not want to issue USE either.

Well, I never had to do this before. I never used FLUSH before. Something is causing this behavior and I don't see what it is. That's why I suspect something in the background.

>I don't really see a way around this, given your constraint - even if you find a way to change the running program(s) to always read the disk (rather than any buffered data), you still have the problem that the Command window activity is buffered. Unless you agree to do SOMETHING to empty THAT buffer, you have the problem.

Well, I USE from the command window, there is no buffering on the table. So, changes are suppose to be seen by other applications.

Thanks.