Ahh thanks - obscure though, and I've already worked around it by changing the InputMask to !!!! etc... (note too that it doesn't do it if Format doesn't have a ! in it...not just obscure but plain buggy

I've had a bunch of weird stuff with vfp8sr1 today, procedures being called that are not in the program (same name, different parameter names, and they don't exist on the hard drive or any network path), and now modal screen that become modeless...ahhhh!!!

Foxpro used to be simple and did what it was told.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.

Cheers, Matt.