>Thanks both Nigel and Thomas. It is a good idea to spend few hours to try those basic operation like opening tables, insert data, search, deleting, etc.
>"able to teach others."? Yes, it reminded me that 10 years ago a word from my Math teacher "How do you know you have learned and understand this knowledge? The answer is when you can teach others about it."
>
>>No need to use SQL Server for this, set up a connection to a VFP database (maybe one you're familiar with) and play with that. Once you've got your head round that, you can build your database in SQL Server and run the same tests using SQL Server instead of VFP as a data source.
>>
>>>
>>>I think Troy's suggestion is a good one and how I learned. Create a form and start developing some simple data concepts. Create one remote view to the Pubs database and open a table of your choice. Fill a grid with data. Create a search form to find a record or records to fill a grid. Once you are able to do these types of things it is ready for data entry/ editing. By spending a few hours doing these kinds of things you will soon be able to teach others. That is when you know you have learned your lesson well.
>>>
>>>Tom

Power;

I was taking integral calculus in engineering college from an outstanding teacher – the best I ever had in college! He had just described how to find the area of a complex three-dimensional object (simple explanation of the problem). When he had finished I could not believe my understanding of the problem and solution. After class I congratulated the teacher and felt like a little kid at Christmas and wanted to tell everyone what I had just learned and explain it as it was so clear. Of course there are still not many humans that would be interested in such things but that is the joy of knowledge.

For a number of years I had worked as an electronic technician and realized an interesting concept because of this experience. The world of a technician requires thinking in two dimensions and that of an engineer in three dimensions. An allegory would be to determine the power dissipated in a resistor. A technician will multiply volts and amps and determine the power. An engineer is interested in the instantaneous and continuous power dissipated. If the maximum power in a device is exceeded for even an instant it could destroy that device.

We also solved some interesting things that were taken for granted as technicians. There are numbers such as .636 and .707 to name a few that technicians use to help solve specific problems. To solve any one of them with calculus required three pages of calculations and work with the use of lookup tables. As a technician it was a one line equation.

Tom