I did all that you suggested with no success, and I am using VFP 9 SP2.

I have always had this problem, and I have seen it work on other people's computers, but never on mine.


>>

>>lx = "Zip Code"
>>ly = "Zip"
>>at(ly,lx) 
>>

>>returns 0 instead of 1
>> ...
>
>I tried this both with Visual FoxPro 6 and Visual FoxPro 9, and it works as expected, returning 1. I assume you add a question mark to the left of at(ly,lx) - I added it.
>
>Additional considerations:
>

at() is case-sensitive. You can use atc() instead, if you want to find text in any case.
>

You may want to issue the command SET STEP ON right before you use the at() command, to check whether the variables really have the expected values.
>

Also watch out for invisible characters, like spaces. Chec, in the debugger, whether len(ly) (in the example) corresponds to what you would expect from the visible part.
>

I believe you didn't mention the version of Visual FoxPro, nor the service-pack you are using (if any). It is possible that some versions of Visual FoxPro have a flaw; but I consider this possibility remote in this case; at least, I didn't hear of version-specific problems for this particular command.
>
>HTH,
>
>Hilmar.