Larry:

You're right: I should have been more forthcoming in explaining why.

I have a simple meeting agenda/minutes database that has been used for about
a year and the user wants to add a query facility: "What meetings have notes
where 'x' or 'y' were discussed?"

The user records a new meeting and particulars about it on a single form
(frm_Meeting). The user views and prints meeting agenda and minutes for a
single meeting at a time from this form. Access to a given meeting is from
the main menu. This menu allows the user to update an existing meeting
("frm_Meeting") by selecting one from a treeview list of all meetings
organized by type and date or to add a new meeting (also "frm_Meeting") by
clicking on a command button. Various administrative functions are accessed
from the main menu as well. I plan on adding the query button to the main
menu.

When the user has a meeting in view, he or she may display and print that
meeting's agenda only. The values needed by the subreport record source
queries are recorded in (hidden) text fields on the meeting form itself. Note
that "frm_Meeting" displays only one meeting at a time. To view another
meeting, the user closes the form and returns to the main menu to work on
another meeting's record.

Due to the structure of the one-meeting-at-a-time form, the query function
is implemented on a separate form that is opened from a command button on the
application's main menu form. Because of this, the main meeting form will
have been closed.

Since I wanted to use the original report and subreports I was looking for a
way to pass the variables (there are only two) other than via textboxes on
the main meeting form since that form will have been closed by the user.

As I see the problem, I have the following choices:

1) Use a form that I could simply hide rather than close to hold the
variables (hence the idea of using the spash screen but a different form such
as main menu would be better).

2) Find another way to pass the values (hence the original question of using
global variable references).

3) Duplicate the report and its subreports along with revised references
just for the query function.

I realize that I still may have not provided you with all of the information
you would like in order to make an informed suggestion. But I'm willing to
keep the dialog going. Perhaps we'll both learn something.

Regards: Tait Milliken (NoVAFolk)