>In the past all my apps have been ran from a network directory with shortcuts to this directory from the workstations. Now I need to create a new application avaible over the network plus loaded on lap tops that can run the app localy and then update the main app when reconnected to the network. This is new to me. Would someone help me to get an understanding of how to make this work?

See Message#452949 for one possibility.
You might also check out http://fox.wikis.com/wc.dll?Wiki~OfflineViews~VFP - Doug Hennig's article which is linked from there.