Hi,

Ussually a small network should not give you too much trouble about
pack command.

In the first place, you should get your priorities straight from the start.
Remember the reality of x-base, use the SET DELETED ON statement so the user
dont see the deleted records and the BLANK command if you want to ensure
that the records wont be seen even in the worst case scenario.
I would strongly recommend that BEFORE you use a table exclusive use a program
to verify if the table is not in use in the network. To do that, use this little trick i first made a few years ago:

ICanpackTheTable = .f.
nhandle = FOPEN("THETABLE.DBF", 12)
if nhandle > 0 && THEN YOU ARE THE ONLY USER HAVING ACCESS TO THE TABLE
=FCLOSE(nhandle)
ICanPackTheTable = .t.
endif
if ICanPackTheTable
use excl
pack
endif