Jerry,

this

>if (myvar1 == "") myvar = myvar2; myvar = myvar1;

is the same as this

> if (myvar1 == "") myvar = myvar2;
> myvar = myvar1;

Which means, that "myvar = myvar1" will always be executed.

If you want an if...else construct in a single line code, you might use the following syntax:

myvar = (myvar1=="") ? myvar2 : myvar1;

It's similar to the IIF() function of VFP.