>>>>Wouldn't LEFT JOIN ON alltrim(upper(table1.aid))==alltrim(upper(table2.bid)) work regardless?
>>>>
>>>Yes, it would. Never used such construction in JOIN myself, but it would work regardless, you're right. Do you have NULL in any of ID fields?
>>
>>No you don't need alltrim() but may need upper(). You already used "==" operator, right? It ensures that trailing spaces are not important.
>>Cetin
>
>Cetin,
>
>If Table1.aID is char 6 and Table2.bID is char 7 or vs. versa using == would result in 0 records match.
>
>Personally I either use GUID or integer PKs, that's why I never had a need to use alltrim. But in Tracy's case (it's her problem) I'd say we either need to use alltrim or pad the shortest string to the longest string length.
>
>You may check this http://www.berezniker.com/display/VFP/String+comparison+in+VFP for better than mine explanation.

No Naomi,
You are mistaken but I'm ready for a bet:) == ensures that size would not be an issue.
I don't need to check a reference, if it's saying it there the way you say then that reference is wrong.
Cetin