>If I create a COM object locally in a form method i.e.
>
>LOCAL loMyCOM
>
>loMyCOM = createobject("whatever")
>
>Do I have to release the variable at the end of the method???
>

The variable will be released but, depending on what the object is, the COM server may still be running. For example, if you issue:

LOCAL oWord

oWord=CreateObject("Word.Application")

RETURN

the oWord reference goes away, but Word is still running invisibly.

Tamar