George,

I have changed my code to pass by reference with the same results. vacancies_view is a view of 3 tables. The fp_name and fp_path contain the filename and path of the drawing I wish to pass through ShellExecute. The are defined in the table as character of 254 width. I have also checked to make sure these variables are returning the same thing my hard-coded statement has.

lcfile = vacancies_view.fp_name
lcpath = vacancies_view.fp_path
lcop = 'open'
lcparms = ""
lnshow = 9

DOESN'T WORK:
lnresult = ShellExecute(0,@lcop,@lcfile,@lcparms,@lcpath,@lnshow)

WORKS:
lnresult = ShellExecute(0,'open',"wmar-100.dwg","","s:\drafting\acts\98202", 9)

Thanks.