>How can I force a menu Item (like Help) to be available when I have a modal form open?

Paul,

The standard way is to provide the functionality with buttons or shortcut menus, but it CAN be done with the regular menu. First, create menu pads that you want to have available, such as Edit, Help, etc. These should replace the menu pads of your standard menu. Place code in the following form events:

Activate:
PUSH MENU _MSYSMENU

GotFocus:
DO Edit.Mpr
DO Help.Mpr

Deactivate:
POP MENU _MSYSMENU