>>>>>OK, I'm a little new at this but I have created a view which uses three other tables to extract information that meets a particular criteria. Once I am satisfied with the data, I want to globally go back and change two fields in the source tables that serve as flags for each record in the view using the UPDATE command. I tried to construct one but keep getting a syntax error. I tried this
>>>>>
>>>>>UPDATE sourcetbl1 SET column3="0001"
>>>>>WHERE viewtbl.column1=sourcetbl1.column1;
>>>>>AND viewtbl.column2=sourcetbl1.column2
>>>>
>>>>At first glance, here are a couple of things...
>>>>
>>>>You have no semicolon at the end of your first line
>>>>
>>>>Since there is no space between "column1" and the semicolon, without a space before "AND" at the first line, VFP will interpret the line as:
>>>>
>>>>WHERE viewtbl.column1=sourcetbl1.column1AND viewtbl.column2=sourcetbl1.column2
>>>>
>>>>Christopher
>>>
>>>I see the problem and corrected the syntax, however when the command runs it only updates the first record in the sourcetbl that meets the condition. There are obviously many more matches. How do I get to them?
>>
>>Now you have a different problem. :)
>>
>>UPDATE - SQL works for single tables only. As such, it's only matching with the current value in your child table rather than performing a query like a select.
>>
>>IMHO, you're better off with a relation and a scan..endscan.
>>
>>(and this from someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes SQL) :)
>>
>>Christopher
>
>The parenthetical means a lot to me. However, I am only trying to update a single source table, just many records in that table. Are you saying that the WHERE clause can not reference values in another table?

Not in my experience. I ran a test and got the same results.

Just had a thought. Try setting a relation prior to doing the update. That MIGHT work (though a nagging thought says probably not). The problem is that the update command doesn't move the cursor in the child table but rather looks at the current value in that work area, similar to saying "x = customer.custno" does. Then again, maybe I'm having a brain cramp and am missing something obvious. I'll take another hack at it and let you know what I come up with. :)

Christopher