>>You may try:
>>cString="tic_acct="+alltrim(str(tnacct))
>>set filter to &cString.
>
>When I try this I still get the error "variable 'TNACCT' is not found'. I'm getting this error when a 'locate' is issued outside of the init.

It's interesting. Could you check what FILTER() returns after you SET FILTER TO &cString ?