Jay,

>
> without having to specify the actual fields to get all the
> columns from table A, named as they exist, and then all the remaining
> fields from table B. I do not want to specify the fields that are
> common to both tables. I want matching records and only 1 occurance
> of all columns.
>

There is no such function in VFP. You'll need to write Yourself a small function that
returns a koma-separated string, containing the unique fieldnames and then do

lcFields = GetUniqueFieldNames("TableA", "TableB")

select &lcFields from TableA A, TableB B ....

The function must also add the local Alias (A or B or whatever You choose).

Also, how does the function know which of the two equal fieldnames You like to have?
If You have SUPPLIER and PRODUCTS and both of them have a field "NAME", do You want the
Supplier's name or the Product-Name.