>thanks for your input. It just dawned on me I could do forms to save data in any type of file format the upload the file and write it to the db. I could even download a file and read it that way.
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>Last question I promise :) If I use something like postreg or mysql do you have to have that installed on the users machine to run the engine? Or does vb take care of installing the necessary components. This si going to be a standalone app. (one user...)

No problem, I don't mind the questions. Ok, first. As for uploading and downloading of files, you don't need to go to a file and then upload or download, you can connect directly to the database. If this is a stand-alone application (one -user) on one computer, then you can just install PostGres or MySQL on that machine, and have VB.NET connect to it directly using ODBC.

You will have to install the database on that machine. If you are writing an one person stand-alone application, then I would probably use MySQL. XML is also an option, It is just tough, if you are SURE it will always be a one person application or you want to build it so it could scale sometime in the future.

Morgan