Martha,

No problem. I'm glad that worked out for you. I have tried using IMPORT with Excel, but I couldn't get it to work well either. Probably because it leaves too much guesswork to VFP. Providing a structure ahead of time and using APPEND FROM gives VFP a helping hand.

>Sure enough! Not only does it work, it's a great SIMPLE solution! (I get exactlt what I need once I...SUBSTR(VALUE,10,11)). Thanks so much for clearing away the cobwebs I created in my brain. Martha