>Hi folks,
>
>I am upsizing a system from VFP to SQL Server and want to carry on using semaphore locking. In VFP I could do something like
>
>IF semaphorelock("tablename", id)
> *-- ok
>
>This would add a new record to the table for the tablename/id combination (if it didn't exist) and also RLOCK() it at the same time (in case user crashes).
>
>However whilst I know I could write a stored proc to do the writing to table etc I'm not really sure how to explicitly do a RLOCK in SQL Server. From what I've read SQL Server seems to perform a dynamic lock i.e. it determines itself whether the table should be page locked etc.
>
>Any ideas ?
>
>Kal

Kalim,
You seem to describe a row locking for an insert operation. An insert on SQL server by default uses row locking. You don't need to insert and than hold a lock on it I think. Instead do just one insert when your new record is ready.
OTOH you could use SQL server's implicit and explicit locking via transactions setting transaction isolation level to your taste. You could use table hints for locks too (like updlock, holdlock etc)
Another option is to use remote views. Now with SQL server 7 and up it's arguable that SQL pass through is faster than remote views. If I were you I'd use RVs till I understand SQL server side semantics and continue to use what I already know.
PS: I think SemaphoreLock() is now arguable too (I assume you were referring to semaphomore lock in fox2x plbs).
Cetin