>that I realised, I was surprised at the tiny percentage that did fall out of order though, is it some complex optomisation rountine that I don't even want to ask about or something simple that causes this?
The order of records in the result set could depends on the way SQL Engine handles a query. Which means that it could change between VFP versions. Why take chances to get incorrect result if you can get correct result with some extra effort?
--sb--