>How are you initializing the variable? It's probably not actually a date variable. Try initiazing it to {} before the user enters the date.
>
>>I have a local date variable that I want to check for spaces (user didn't enter a value for the variable) . When I put in the command
>> if thisform.msdt = ctod(' / / ')
>>I get an error message: operator/operand type mismatch. Why?
>>
>>Thanks

ctod() expects a date. try ctod({ / / })