>This really feels dumb....buttt....I test for an available table in the init of a form, if not table..thisform.destroy. problem is, the form instaniates anyway. Please refresh my feeble brain.

As Bill said, returning .F. prevents the form from intializing. But I wanted to point out to you that Thisform.Destroy() does nothing but run any code you add to the Destroy() procedure. Thats because Destroy() is an Event, not a method that actualy does anything natively. In order to close a form, call its Release() method.