Hi Randy:
I ready your explanation to Disen. Nicely put.  (Wish I'd written it!)
 RWF> Another point that should be looked at is HOW records are currently 
 RWF> locked. For instance I RARELY use append or append 
 RWF> blank because both require not only a record lock, but also lock the 
 RWF> database header momentarily to update record counts etc.
Or, as I do, you can use INSERT INTO ...
David in Dallas.
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