>Here is a typical situation. There is a table with record of 4 long but most of them only have two letter and are put that way in the table : " AA" (2 spaces before) There is an index XINDEX on that record as : XINDEX = UPPER(field)
>There is a form that seek the table for a specific match : "AA"
>
>Which one is faster...?
>Padding the "AA" with 2 spaces and then do the SEEK, or use SEEK (ALLTRIM(field))
>Will both be the same speed or will one of them use the index where the other will not?

They will both be the same speed and they will both use the index. By definition, SEEK always and only uses the index.