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>What about SELECT a.id,Recno("b") AS recno_b ; ...etc??? Never tried it but??

I tried several variations one day and found that you could get an accurate RecNo() ONLY if the SQL used a single table. Otherwise, you'll have to use the UniqueID (you DO have one?) and a SEEK on the main table.

Interestingly, my results varied with the time of day, what music was playing on the CD (or perhaps some internal strangeness). I never did figure out how VFP handled the RecNO() call. :-)