Evelyn,
In addition to Jens' reply keep in mind that the customer.dbf table could be open with a different alias.

Einar
>

>if not used('customer.dbf')
>      use customer
>endif
>

>
>i have the above code in my program. when i do this, i get error file is in use in line use customer.
>
>but shouldn't the condition, check if the table is in use? if it is, it should do the use customer.
>
>pls advise. TIA.