>I am modifying a visual accountmate (vfp accounting system) form/formset in vfp 5.
>From the command window my current directory is c:\vam. I issue:
>modi form forms\sotrsrv7 . I then receive the message:
>
>file c:\vam does not exist
>

David, did you set the pathing expected by VAM as specified in the README file that comes with the source code?

>What other types of files will the form designer attempt to open on startup. In general, my question is how can I debug the form designer itself. How can I learn more about the process it goes through upon loading the scx, and how to debug it, and how to determine where it is executing in the load process. One hint, I guess - I previously had a problem where it couldn't find a table referenced in the DE. that is fixed now. But that error would come up BEFORE the current error, so I guess that it happens after the DE is loaded.

VCXes are a particular issue, since the classes referenced within the form are probably VAM classes. You should read the documentation describing how to set up your working environment.