There have been a couple of good answers to your question already, and of course the answer is debateable, depending on your program's size, complexity, need for portability, etc.

Just to allow another idea: you can Scatter/Gather (or assign in code) Table Field values to Object Properties, then bind the Properties to the Textboxes, etc. This creates a transaction layer that allows for easier transition to another Data Engine in the future (like SQL,Oracle, etc.)...

Just my 2 cents...


>Is there a recommended method to validating data on a form?
>
>Assuming the control is bound to a table field...
>
>Which is better?
>
>

>if empty(table.field) then
>  =messagebox('this field cannot be empty')
>  return
>endif
>

>
>or
>
>

>if empty(thisform.text1.value) then
>  =messagebox('this field cannot be empty')
>  return
>endif
>