>If the variable doesn't exist at a higher level, than it defaults to PRIVATE. If it exists at a higher level, than that variable it is used.
>
>IMHO, it's better to explicitly declare all local variables as LOCAL.
>

So that was what was confusing me.

In the VFP documentation, PRIVATE pcVariable does not initialize pcVariable. It just makes pcVariable private to that method or procedure. I didn't realize that pcVariable=whatever automatically made pcVariable private.

So how long does a PRIVATE variable exist if it remains in existance after a method or procedure has completed. And how is that different from a PUBLIC variable?

Where would you use a PRIVATE variable?

Thanks for your help.