>You are right, indeed!!
>If the table in DE is part of a DBC, you can open the form in design mode even when the table is open exclusively somewhere else! The form opens in design mode, but, of course, if you try to browse the table you get 'File access denied'...
>
>To recap:
>A. Table in the DE part of a DBC:
>A1. DBC open EXCL - form doesn't open, file access denied error.
>A2. Table open EXCL on another WS - MODIFY FORM is slow.
>A3. Table open NON EXCL on another WS - MODIFY FORM is fast.
>A4. Table open in another VFP session on the same WS - MODIFY FORM is fast, the exclusive open doesn't matter.
>
>B. Table in the DE free table:
>B1. Table open EXCL - form doesn't, file access denied error.
>B2. Table is open NON EXCL on another WS - MODIFY FORM is slow.
>B3. Table is NOT open on any other WS - MODIFY FORM is fast.
>B4. Table is open NON EXCL in another VFP session on the same WS - MODIFY FORM is fast.
>
>A2 is a surprise to me, I'd expect that you can not open the form.
>B2 is the one that is a problem.
>A3/B2 seem to confirm what you say, that vfp team tested only "tables in DBC" situation.

Good! I'm glad we got to the bottom of this - it was an interesting problem to try to identify. So, you know what the fix is now, anyway: use DBCs. Though you have to balance that with how much work it will be to do this. But for the future, you can plan new apps for using DBCS, anyway. DBCs have a *whole bunch* of other advantages, too - once you get through a few "learning pains" about how they work.

AFAIK, I don't think the vfp team will be correcting the DE/free table problem anytime soon :-)

And a small comment on A2: the reason you can do MODI FORM with DE tables open EXCL elsewhere is that all the necessary table information can be extracted directly from a DBC, without the tables being opened.