This is why I think it's fine to ask questions about things that may seem obvious to others. It's not necessarily the answer to what I was trying to do with a specific command, but the various solutions to a problem. I like this a lot and never would have seen it if I hadn't posted my question. All the other fluff in this thread is crap.

>Try something like
>

>tcName = "Thurston Howell III"
>lcSuffix=ltrim(substr(m.tcName,rat([ ],rtrim(m.tcName))))
>ldoesSuffixExist= INLIST(UPPER(m.lcSuffix),"PHD","II","III","IV","V","JR","SR","ESQ","CPA","CEA","DD","MD","JD")
>

>
>Just fwiw, you need to watch SET EXACT if you want to use INLIST like this- e.g. "Thurston Vanderbilt" will return a .T. if SET EXACT is OFF. There are several ways to make it independent of SET EXACT but here's 2 easy ways:
>
>

>ldoesSuffixExist= ! empty(m.lcsuffix) and ;
>    INLIST(UPPER(m.lcSuffix)+[~],"PHD~","II~","III~","IV~","V~","JR~","SR~","ESQ~","CPA~","CEA~","DD~","MD~","JD~")
>

>
>-or-
>

>ldoesSuffixExist= [~]+upper(m.lcSuffix)+[~] $ [~PHD~II~III~IV~V~JR~SR~ESQ~CPA~CEA~DD~MD~JD~]
>