>Craig,
>
>>A single, integer field will be the fastest.
>
>I was wondering if someone would mention this. I am in fact interfacing with an external datasource (Paradox ), and I have written an add on module, that requires me to take their fields and do a look up in my own tables.
>
>-Mark

IMO, you should have an integer field for the PK in your VPF tables and use the values from the Paradox table as a Candidate or regular key.

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Microsoft .Net MVP, Grape City Community Influencer