>>>When the compiled .exe runs, I get an error message that says:
>>>"LOMESSAGE is not an object" but all is well when I run it from within vfp environ (command propmt)
>>>
>>>the code is as follows and was always working till today. I've rebuilt the project to no avail. I wonder what the cause is?
>>>
>>> loMessage = newobject("Animation", "Animation.vcx", "", ; && Now use Daniel's vcx class instead
>>> 'Saving record...', ;
>>> 'RECORD SAVE IN PROGRESS', ;
>>> 'fish.avi')
>>
>>At this point, just try to check whether the object was successfully instantiated. Maybe just messagebox(loMessage.name). If it breaks there, well, you may have some error in that class and it didn't instantiate - or the classlib wasn't included in the project.
>>
>>> set message to ' Saving record...'
>>> loMessage.show()
>>> for t= 1 to 21000000
>>> next
>>>retu
>
>I did as u said, put the test message there and it bombed out before it was displayed. It does display ok at the cmd prompt. I've even used a backup copy of the class. Doesn't rebuilding the project supposed to solve it?

Is animation.vcx in the project at all? If not, then add it (I'm not really sure the project manager analyzes newobject() and similar calls).
If it's there, you may need to run your exe in a debugger, making sure you have no path at all before starting. You may even need to rename your development directory, just to make sure the classes won't be found elsewhere but in the exe itself. Then trace through the creation of the animation object and see why doesn't it return an object.