>>>Are you sure you have irretrievably lost the variable which was transformed into this string? If you didn't, that variable knew what it was, a D or a T.
>>
>>There is extra parameter in dtoc or ttoc functions that guarantee the same string everytime.
>
>I have a nagging suspicion that he gets that string from somewhere outside and can't control its format.

May be. If so, then there is no solution.