Wow, you are the first person I have heard complain in anyway about Rave Reports. Have you seen:

http://www.nevrona.com/rave/designer.html

I found it fairly simple to use. Maybe because it is so similar to using any other Delphi add-in. Also, the gui is similar to powerpoint, etc. I like the vfp report writer, but let's face it: it's been limited for awhile. The best news I've heard lately is that Europa will include an updated report writer. I can't wait! I wish the VFP report writer had the same capabilities as Rich Simpson's tool and Rave Reports. Maybe MSFT could provide a limited or scaled-down version of either of them with Europa as Borland does with Rave and Delphi 7? :o) It would spur upgraded purchases of both products I think...

You may find a more commonly used tool like Crystal Reports a better option. There appears to be great support online here on the UT for it in case you need assistance (most of us do when first using a new tool). I don't know Crystal's capabilities anylonger (we have an older version that we used to use but haven't used in a couple of years) so I'm not sure if it meets or exceeds Rave's functions. You can compare Rave's capabilities to Crystal's maybe by comparing the information on their websites or posting Rave's capabilities and asking user's if Crystal does the same or more...

>Tracy,
>I agree with everything you wrote. What tools do you recommend? That's the real problem. By the way, what is your option of RAVE. We are using it now - even bought it - but it seems like a LOT of work and is very poorly documented.