On the subject of gotcha's my use of ParentForm property was taken from MS VC++2010 help "How to: Retrieve Information from the Parent Form of a Dialog Box" :-
Code:
public:
     void GetParentText()
     {
        String^ x = (safe_cast<Form1^>(this->ParentForm))->Text;
     }
but maybe I'm taking this out of context?

I was out of touch for a while and when I came back noticed the site had had a face lift but was dismayed to find the find broken! I thought it was because I am using a new PC in a new house/country but see from your comment that's not it. Should I be telling somebody about it and whom?
Thanks for the help.
RD.