ja, sorry, my mouth (fingers) were faster then my brain.

how about, a seperate tabe (as you suggested in the 2nd message), but no need for a flock or rlock, just fill a specific field with a specific value. as someone start the proccess they look first in the table/field. if the expected value is not there, they fill the field and are free to start the procedure. once they are done, they release that field.

>This won't work as additional line of codes are being process and we need to lock the entire set of commands to make sure that one doesn't go in as long as a series of command is not completed. See my other reply I just made.