>In order to do an occassional PACK of the DBC/DBFs, I wondered if there was a convenient way to log-off all users so I can get EXCLUSIVE use in the early morning hours.
>
>I wondered what would happen if the READ EVENTS command was in a
>DO...WHILE loop that monitored the system clock
>
>i.e. At 1:00am, the program would run a shutdown routine.
>
>Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

The way I (and my LAN, usually, too, for their tasks) handle this is:

Send out email once or even twice stating the date/time of downtime. Get on your Server Manager (or equivalent) at downtime and see that all is free, if not, individually deal with the users. There usually aren't many, especially after the first time or two...Then open the DBCs/tables EXCL right away, so no one else can get in anyway. Do your thing, and if necessary send out more email stating you're finished.

The easiest way is to have a regular weekly/monthly, etc. time scheduled for this, users get accustomed to it and things go smoothly...LAN does it on weekends usually, I just do my maintenance early in the morning...