>Walter,
>Is there an ideal record width (ie number of fields ) for a table before things slows down?

No there is not. A table with only a few fields will typically load faster than a table with many fields. The same is true for indexes. If the table has many indexes attached, it might load slower than tables with none or only a few index tags.

>Would making the database files read only cause problems with reindex process. ( I delete the cdx files and recreate them via a program).

Deleteing the index (WITH DELETE TAG) might not be possible since that process attempts to delete all relations in the database as well. A normal REINDEX is possible though. a strategy I use is that I rely on REINDEX. I keep a copy of an empty CDX so that in case of unrecoverable CDX damage I replace the the damaged one with the copy and ISSUE a REINDEX.

>Thanks for the insight on set deleted. I have !deleted() index tag on all tables and am now deleting this tag to test if this could be the cause.
>Yau

As JimN told you, probably not since the NOT function prohibits rushmore to optimize the SET DELETE ON filter with this index tag.

Walter,