>Mark,
>
>It makes no difference how elegant the routine is, there is still a possibility that between the FClose()and the USE command another user opens the table. You still need the error routine to check for a failure.
>
>You can write a super elegant routine to chekc for the ability to open exclusively, but until you actually open the table and succeed there is no guarantee that the USE EXCLUSIVE will succeed.

Very true. I saw your other reply to this as well. I probably should have said neat or cool instead of elegant because I had never thought of Cetin's method. So if I combine what he and I use, I have an even better way of handling this.