>FWIW, this type of locking schema is IMHO draconian.

Don't like the schema, but had a good feeling about being draconian !!!


>Given the fantastic buffering capabilities of VFP, most developers I assume would generally use optimistic table locks.

Yup. I'm doing this, and that's why I'm concerned. I can see them asking me why they are not able to shout to the guy next table anymore telling him to get off that record ... (this usually happens when different people participate of the pricing process of a project)


>When you have potential contention, you can avoid the update, or write code that highlights which field have been changed by the other user.

Oh, didn't know this one.


>Then, the current user can decide whether or not he/she should proceed with the current update. It may be that the current user has changed fields that will not overwrite the other users changes - in otherwords to users may have updated different parts of the same record that in effect cause no conflict.

So, I see I can tell them what's been changed. That sounds good enough. Do you have a pill I can take to absorb that knowledge instantly ?

Valeu.