Hi Jim,

>I just happened to stumble onto this nasty behavior because of default NULL values in some tables I am working with, which were designed by contractors who are since long-gone, and I want to make it stop. :) Not that I have a conceptual problem with null values themselves.
>
>Short Version of that gobbledegook: 'Hmm. Those are causing a weird, nasty side-effect, and maybe I will just get rid of them' :)

PMFJI, I have never heard of this problem with NULLS. I use them frequently (for Dates and Memos) without difficulty. It looks like you've decided to avoid them (which isn't all bad <G>) but if you'd like to use them NULLS, I'd be willing to offer some help... BTW, What version of VFP and Windows are you using?