One thing that I'm doing on a current project (where the data store is Oracle and MSSQL7) is adding these columns to every table -

creation_dt datetime
last_update_dt datetime
deletion_dt datetime
logically_deleted_yn c(1) (index on this column)
created_by_user_id n(16)
last_updated_by_user_id n(16) (index on this column)
deleted_by_user_id n(16)


Using a column for deleted records instead of the VFP engine's deleted() flag should let you use Erik's timestamp idea/code in a record-validation rule since as far as VFP is concerned, the record isn't truly "deleted" so the rule should always fire. I have also been told by more than a few DBAs that having the above columns is "the standard", so it should make cross VFP-RDBMS projects smoother for you in the future.