H Aleksey,

>What I meant was:

>LOCAL MyComponents
>MyComponents=1
>select ... INTO CURSOR MyComponents

seems I have misinterpreted your intent.
Do you think for my more generic use function problem something like

parameters tcpath, tcAlias
if used (m.tcAlias)
   select (m.tcAlias)
   use
else
   select 0
endif
LOCAL &tcAlias
Store 1 To (m.tcAlias)
use (m.tcpath) again alias (m.tcAlias)

might help as well, or has this only a chance if the alias is programmed
directly as CURSOR MyComponents ?

Come to think of it, I haven't tried
use (m.tcpath) again alias &tcAlias
because of long standing habit to keep macro use to a minimum.
Currently I have defragged the disks again, and the error doesn't show up any more.
I will try again if I have a relatively stable "error environment".

thanks

thomas