Noel / Ron- perfect.  Your solution just got me over an 8 hour hump!!!   Can I offer you a Philly Cheese Steak??? 

thanks a million!

bt

I tried your recommendation and it failed w/ the following error message:

The charindex function requires 2 to 3 arguments.

update STAGEtblCSComponentParsed

 set Type_1    = left(AddrInstr,1),

     Type_1_ID = cast(substring(AddrInstr,2,3-charindex(';',AddrInstr,3)) as int),

     Type_2   ...

Thanks for the lead in Frank (my mistake) -- I modified the OBJECTPROPERTY to filter on 'IsUserTable' instead of 'Customers'

All I need to do is determine the existance of a TABLE.  Then I do a:

if exists (select * from dbo.sysobjects where id = object_id(N'[dbo].[Customers]')

   and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'Customers') =...

Good suggestion!  Exactly what I recommended BUT the lead developer wants to build an .MSI type application whereby they can bundle all scripts together on a CD and create, via...

To allow access to XP_CMDSHELL:

o grant execute on the XP_CMDSHELL (in the Master DB) to your SQL User (or SQL Role)

o then, determine if a SQL Server Agent Proxy Account exists:...