>>select * from t order by t.desc
>>
>>should *always* succeed. I have more than once used reserved VFP keywords as field-names and VFP sometimes complains, but not if the name is qualified.
>
>I still prefer to avoid the headache. I use 'DESCRIP' for 'DESC'.
>
>the following, from your example, strikes me as funny looking, so I wouldn't do it myself.
>

>select * from t order by t.desc desc
>

Neither would I - desc is usually a memo field :-) !!