>when i go to 'use' the table in question (comppay.dbf) it issues a:
>table is not open
>error. when i validate the database it says:
>'Object #7 (Table 'comppay'): Cannot open table 'c:\ainsley\wims\data2\comppay.dbf'.

Short of recommending some 3rd-party data tools for DBs and fixing corruptions, have you opened up the DBC as a table and looked at the offending table fields (especially around record #7).

Also, an important question is, if you delete the bad table from the DB (either by a dialog to "free the table" or by marking deleted (in the DBC table) all the bad-table-related records and then freeing it, can you open the table at all, after any error messages? Just trying to see whether it's the table that's corrupted, or a DBC problem...