You get what you're asking for. See http://www.berezniker.com/content/pages/visual-foxpro/string-comparison-vfp
You should use LIKE operator in this case. It'll work in VFP and other DBs

SELECT * FROM Test WHERE LOWER(LEFT(cSubject,30)) LIKE "abc%"

>I seem to be experiencing index problems with a VarChar field, has anyone else ever encountered similar behaviour with this field type.
>
>

>CREATE TABLE Test ( ;
>	iTimeId I PRIMARY KEY, ;
>	nParentId I, ;
>	cSubject V(80), ;
>	)
>ALTER TABLE Test
>INDEX ON DELETED() TAG Deleted
>INDEX ON LOWER(LEFT(cSubject,30)) TAG cNormSub
>

>
>Then run
>

>SELECT * FROM Test WHERE LOWER(LEFT(cSubject,30)) = "abc"
>

>Which not only returns records beginning 'abc' but also includes those where cSubject is blank! From what I can establish issuing a REINDEX appears to cure the problem.