Would this allow optimization ?


You can use filtered ( FOR filterCondition ) INDEX with seek commands
and like active sort index with a fast filter.

Because on a filtered index the records that they do not satisfy the filterCondition condition comes excluded, VFP does not use them in order to optimize a command.

If you want you can define two indices:

* constraint
INDEX ON ... CANDIDATE|PRIMARY FOR !DELETED() ...
* index for optimization
INDEX ON ... 

Fabio