>>>>1) If one table has 3 copies on the matching field, and the other 4, you will get 3*4=12 duplicates in the result set.
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>>>Yes, the 1) case.
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I find it a little complicated to understand the structure of your tables.
But how about combining records with a SELECT - SQL, with a GROUP BY clause. This could get rid of duplicates. This would have to be done BEFORE combining the two tables - perhaps in separate SELECT commands.
Hilmar.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)