Another good thought but doesn't fix it.  Which, in itself, is interesting, 
because it does indeed create a correct window that apparently is unable to 
display any contents once the File$ command is successfully run. If the 
FILES$ is cancelled, the buttons appear properly and work fine (I added a 
small event handler to dismiss the window on any button click.) If I add the 
buttons before the Files$ command, they display, but are nonresponsive after 
a successful completion of FILES$

So what seems to be happening is the window or anything on it gets lost 
after a successful FILES$ command.

Is there another straightforward way to display a file open dialog?

S