>vdb = new VDatabase
>     vdb.open(f)
>      if vdb <> nil then
>       if vdb.SchemaVersion < 904 then
>           //add new field to table
>       end if
>       vdb.close
>       vdb =  nil
>     end if
>
>Is there a faster way to check for schema version and compatibility?
>
To answer my own question: I found this very nice function
     Valentina.GetSchemaVersion(f)
which is almost instantaneous. Much better!
Jon