hi tcstudio
test the following example with 3 character fields, is that what you are after ?
* create 2 tables with data
numofrecs = 2
create table studioa (field1 c(50), field2 c(50), field3 c(50))
do populate
create table studiob (field1 c(50), field2 c(50), field3 c(50))
append from studioa
do populate
* output records that do not have a match
close data
create table studioc (field1 c(50), field2 c(50), field3 c(50)) && to hold answers
use studioa in 0 && from table creation above
use studiob in 0 && from table creation above
select studioa
index on field1+field2+field3 tag seekstr additive
select studiob
scan
scatter memvar
m.seekstr = field1+field2+field3
if not seek(m.seekstr,"studioa"

insert into studioc values (m.field1, m.field2, m.field3)
endif
endscan
* browse your data files
procedure populate
for i = 1 to numofrecs
m.info = '_'+alltrim(str(i))+'_'+alias()
insert into (alias()) values ( 'f1'+m.info, 'f2'+m.info, 'f3'+m.info )
endfor
return
Pete Bloomfield
Down Under