>Thank you, Barbara, that worked. I wish, though that such a thing would be documented in the SELECT - SQL entry of VFP help.
>
>>>How do I determine if SQL considers deleted records?
>>
>>SET DELETED will affect SQL statements, but that command is scoped to the datasession. If you set DELETED ON in your main program, but are running your SQL command from a private datasession, you must SET DELETED ON in that datasession first.

There are many SET commands scoped to the datasession, and these will affect just about everything you do in a datasession. These commands are documented under the SET DATASESSION topic in the online help. I've printed out the list of commands and tacked it to the bulletin board above my desk so they're easy to reference.