The only absolute way to get what you want in the format you want is to use automation which is quite easy in VFP. You could still use the COPY TO DELI WITH TAB. Fire up and Excel object and open this XLS text file, then do a Save As to save it in an Excel format. That is the fastest way to do it.

>Well, the thing I'm worried about is that a .XLS extension signifies that a file is an Excel spreadsheet, which means a binary file with a format specific to Excel. I know, I'm being picky.
>
>>>Mark,
>>>
>>>Thanks for the reply. I'll have to think about this. I'm not sure I like the idea of giving a text file the extension of .XLS, when it's not really an Excel spreadsheet.
>>
>>I don't think you have anything to be concerned about. Try it. Do a copy to somefile.xls delimited with tab and then try doubleclicking it in Excel. It opens perfectly fine.
>>
>>Hm. Are you concerned about really old versions of Excel? I have the luxury of supporting at least office 97.