>We are wondering if anyone here can recommend a good source for information regarding the basic internal processes followed by the VFP SQL engine?

If you're looking for a good basic book about the SQL language, try "Joe Celko's SQL For Smarties, Second Edition" by Joe Celko. Be aware, though, that each SQL implementation, including VFP's, is a subset/superset of the ANSI standard, so not everything in Celko's book will apply to VFP.