>In the following command (fln refers to file name)
>

>if fln = " " 
>fln = "Temp"
>endif
>

>
>i get this error message
>
>Operator/operand type mismatch
>
>I cannot find the point in my programming at which this variable becomes a numeric reference - but nonetheless Is there a command line i can run immediately before to check if fln is text variable, if not then change it to a text variable before the error message comes up.

The EMPTY() function can be useful for something like this:

IF EMPTY( fln )
  fln = "Temp"

ENDIF

I can't remember if the VFP debugger supports conditional breakpoints i.e. you can set it to break when EMPTY( fln ) = .T.. Then your code will stop at the point that happens, which can make it easier to find the source of the problem.