ok i m nearly maxing out with both my ids. so dont mind me if u dont see my reply again. With Matlab and C's extension, it will take at least 100 lines of codes to create a simple form with a text box and a button (i m not sure how IMI's forms are demanding for the outlook) then connectivity with access from C...man you are asking for more codes here. VB is the easiest platform for RAD (Rapid application development). you can create a form right away in minutes and plus the ODBC is all inbuilt in the IDE itself. so i am telling him to go for this. With Java, sure. but again u need to have a hands on experience with basic java, a little bit of OOP knowledge so that is not gonna help much. If IMI knows Java then fine. Loote