>Has it always been that a string comparision works differently in SQL than FoxPro? or was that just with VFP8?
>

On every VFP:

xbase "=" use SET("COLLATE")
SQL   "=" and "==" uses  SET("COLLATE")

xbase "s1=s2" with SET("EXACT")=OFF, if Len(s1)>=LEN(S2), then it is equal  to , SQL "s1=s2" with SET("ANSI")=OFF

xbase "s1=s2" with SET("EXACT")=ON, is fully equal to , SQL "s1==s2" OR "s1=s2" with SET("ANSI")=ON

*******
xBase "==" don't use SET("COLLATE")
xBase "LIKE()"  don't use SET("COLLATE")
SQL " LIKE "  don't use SET("COLLATE")

xbase "s1==s2" or "LIKE(s1,s2)", is fully equal to , SQL "s1 LIKE s2"