Bill
I didn't think you were being a smart arse.

I did not want to get into a discussion of big front ends; this would
lead to a discussion of
- temp tables (I never use any);
- msde (where queries live in the backend) -> which would lead to a
discussion of ADPs and ODBC and maybe even ADO;
- Access as a suitable vehicle for a BIG application such as you
describe.

We've had many discussions here in CDMA about these things. Many
regulars don't agree with me about them. The discussions go on and on
and sometimes get nasty. I don't see any point in going there again.

I think you are a new poster to CDMA (I haven't noticed you before).
Your post seemed intelligent. We don't get so many of these anymore. I
wanted to encourage you to stay, not to go.

I know of only a few ways to keep the size of the FE in check:

a) no images on forms;
b) prevent temporary (JET created without asking) queries;
c) no temp tables; use ADO recordset save and open to text files if
necessary, but try to make it not necessary);
d) frequent savingastext all objects and reloadingastext to get rid of
the crud (during development);
e) having an efficient coding and object designing style;
f) don't use wizards.

I'm not saying that any of these is the right thing to do; I'm saying
they are the things I try to do.