>Tim, this works. Thanks to George Tasker (he wrote it), I use it alot:
>
>

>************************************************************
>*function File_Chooser
>*  Author............: George Tasker
>*  Description...... : Function invokes MS Common Dialog Control and
>*                          : returns an array of files via parameters list.
>*                    : Each element of the array contains one file...
>*  Calling Samples...: dimension a_File[1]
>*                    : lcPath = ""
>*                    : lnFiles = File_Chooser(@a_File, @lcPath, DTitle, InDir)
>*  Parameter List....: a_File, pPath, DTitle, InDir
>********************************************************************
>*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>*!* the below EXAMPLE code will call this function and get all 02*.dbf files in \programnotes
>*!* Don't forget to change the filter in the code in this function to determine what you
>*!* want to search for!
>*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>*!*   * Calling Example for 02*.dbf files:
>*!*
>*!*	dimension a_File[1]
>*!*	lcPath = ""
>*!*	DTitle="Please select a file"
>*!*	InDir="\programnotes"		&& change this line to your directory where 02*.dbf is located
>*!*	lnFiles = filechooser(a_File, lcPath, DTitle, InDir)
>*!*
>*------------------------------
>* NOTE:  the following also works in the current directory:
>* LocFile("02*","dbf")
>*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>lparameter a_File, lcPath, DTitle, InDir
>external array a_File
>
>** Definition of Common Dialog flags
>
>#define cdlOFNAllowMultiselect 0x200
>*!*     Specifies that the File Namelist box allows multiple selections.
>*!*     The user can select more than one file at run time by pressing
>*!* the SHIFT key and using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to select the desired files.
>*!* When this is done, the FileName property returns a string containing the names
>*!*     of all selected files.
>*!* The names in the string are delimited by spaces.
>local oDialog
>oDialog = createobject('MSComDlg.CommonDialog')
>* Set the flags for Multi-Select/Explorer
>with oDialog
>     .MaxFileSize = 260
>     .Flags = 0x200 + 0x80000
>     .DialogTitle=DTitle
>* Set filters
>	*^^tch set filter below
>	.Filter = "02 Tables (02*.dbf)|02*.dbf"
>     *.filter = "All Files (*.*)|*.*|Database Files (*.dbf)|*.dbf|Index Files (*.cdx)|*.cdx"
>* Specify default filter
>     .FilterIndex = 1
>
>     if not empty(m.InDir)
>          .InitDir=m.InDir
>     endif
>
>     .ShowOpen
>
>* Save the file name to a variable
>     lcFileName = .FileName
>endwith
>oDialog = null
>
>if empty(m.lcFileName)
>	*&& User pressed a Cancel
>     return 0
>endif
>
>lnpt = at(chr(0), m.lcFileName)
>if lnpt > 0
>     lcPath = left(lcFileName, lnpt - 1)
>     lcFileName = substr(lcFileName, lnpt + 1)
>     lnFiles = occurs(chr(0), lcFileName) + 1
>     dimension a_File[lnfiles]
>     lnI = 0
>     do while not empty(lcFileName)
>          lnI = lnI + 1
>          lnpt = at(chr(0), lcFileName)
>          if lnpt > 0
>               lcname = left(lcFileName, lnpt - 1)
>               lcFileName = substr(lcFileName, lnpt + 1)
>          else
>               lcname = lcFileName
>               lcFileName = ""
>          endif
>          a_File[lni] = lcname
>     enddo
>     lnFiles = alen(a_File, 1)
>       FOR lni = 1 TO lnlast
>         ? a_file[lni]
>       NEXT
>else
>     lnFiles=1
>     dimension a_File[lnFiles]
>     lnPos=rat('\',lcFileName)
>     lcPath=left(lcFileName,lnPos-1)
>     lcname=substr(lcFileName,lnPos+1)
>     a_File[1] = lcname
>ENDIF
>return lnFiles
>

>
>>>Tim,
>>>
>>>No, I'm saying is that I think MS Common Dialog is the more conventional way of doing it. It is part of the Windows platform SDK. getfile() is a function provided with VFP, and it has been around for a while.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>so what you're saying, there's no conventional way of doing this, so Nadya's prg kind of simulates the true getfile()? I got it to work using below code.
>>>>
>>
>>Getting back to my orig quest, is there a way for getfile() to show only files of my choice beginning with a prefix like 020*.dbf rather than all dbfs()?

FYI
Macro > in two places
refers to Greater Than
if lnpt > 0 && > 0
That works nice