>>I didn't know that - it's difficult to get hold of books here.
>
>Bummer. Actually I don't use the book, I use the .chm file that you can dl from the hentzenwerke site. If you wanted it you can order just the ebook(.chm) and dl it. Same thing with kiloFox
>
>>But you have your UNION the other way around - the smaller field first. The text you quoted from the HG says you should put the larger field first. Try to invert the query.
>
>I thought the first one should be the bigger one? Is the following in the correct order?
>
>

select cCompanyName ; && yields c(50) field
>  from invoice ;
>  union ;
>  select space(1) as cCompanyName ; &&yields a c(1) field
>  from payment

That's what I meant. Reviewing your original query, I see that you have the larger one first. I thought you had the wrong order. Sorry.

But, right now I do a simple test on my data, which reveals that at least for character data, I can not combine characters of different lengths, whatever the order. (Using VFP 6.) I think you should try to make them the same length.

Hilmar.