In the present case, wouldn't it be simpler to do a padl(...) on whatever the user types, before doing the comparison?

>Thanks a bunch for the link. I think Hilmar's solution works best for me.

>CHRTRAN(LTRIM(CHRTRAN(charvalue,"0"," "))," ","0")

>
>Thanks Hilmar!!!!
>
>
>>See also Re: Simple math problem Thread #1122177
>>
>>>Please Note: VFP 8
>>>
>>>I have a table with a PONUM field. It is a 10 character string. When the field is populated it is with PADL(value,10,"0"). While value is usually a number, it occasionally has a character in it so we could see (for example), 00001234-1
>>>
>>>I need an expression that essentially strips away the leading zeros and allows a comparison to another value. So if the user enters "2" we would filter by/select all records where the first non-zero character would be "2", getting (with EXACT OFF)......
>>>
>>>"0002567890"
>>>"0000027890"
>>>"00002678-1"
>>>"0000000002"
>>>etc.
>>>
>>>If not for the potential non-numeric characters I think I could use

TRANSFORM(VAL(value)) = "2"

but as the user enters more characters to refine the filter, I need to be able to account for those non-numerics.
>>>
>>>All suggestions muchly appreciated
>>>
>>>...........Rich