Hi again Edward,
Yeah, not really fearful, just like to find the most elegant solution if possible. I came up with a function similar to what you suggested. Works fine, looks good. Only possible concern is speed if a lot of containers are involved.

Thanks again,
Bill


>>Hi Edward,
>> I read you and I was afraid of that :-). Was hoping for a "simple" solution.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Bill
>>
> Don't be afraid and run something like this:
>**** some control event/method
>local cString,nTop
>cString="this.parent"
>nTop=this.top
>do while .t.
> if type(cString)!="O"
> exit
> endif
> nTop=&cString..top+nTop
> cString=cString+".parent"
>enddo
>=messagebox("this is cumulated 'top': "+str(nTop))