>i displayed the fields from a table into a grid and now i find that if i view the grid, i cannot delete any record from the same table anymore. the message "file need to be opened exclusively" is displayed. what i dont understand is, i had already opened it exclusively. the grid and the delete function is in 2 different forms. i find that if i dont run the form that contains the grid, i can delete the records from the same table without any problems at all. can anyone help me with this?

Deleting records has nothing to do with Exclusive or shared use. Are you trying to PACK after the delete? If so, you *do* need exclusive use to PACK. However, PACKing is a no-no in multi-user applications unless performed as a maintenance routine when all users are out of the system. You can hide deleted records with SET DELETED ON.