>With the help of a friend, problem solved. For some reason the project window had to be closed. As long as it is closed the file dialog boxes do not appear.

For future reference, a good way to track down errors that disappear when you trace is to sprinkle DEBUGOUT statements in the code, then open the debugger and run. The DEBUGOUT's tell you where you are, so you can see where the problem occurs.

Tamar