>Should I create this "thing" as a class or should I just create it as a UDF?

Alex,
I like follow JimB's rule of thumb when this question strikes...

a UDF is your best suited answer when the task or responsibility your handling could be foreseen as an extension of the VFP language. Or other words... could a future version of VFP possibly give me a native function to do this same responsibility? In the MM framework take a look at the IsA() UDF in utility.prg - prime example of what I mean by a task that is an extension of native VFP.

Now your situation here on the other hand is perfect for a session class as Larry suggests, opening specific views is something VFP is never gonna do for us natively because it's an app specific type of data handling.