ok. that seems to work but not sure what to do if there are multiple tables in the query.

and so it seems like you're saying that i dont need the ".connect" which would be used with the active X control (since we're instanciating the application itself)

and how do i set up the ".SelectionCriteria" (again, that is the way to do it with the active X object - not sure how with the application object).

thanks,

keith