>>This tells me that I don't need the quotes in
>>commands that can take a name expression.
>>
>>In addition, I was hoping someone would know off-hand
>>if it is also the case in all commands that
>>have a file name or a file skeleton as a
>>parameter.
>
>Commands and functions don't take "file names" or "file skeletons" as parameters, they take strings. The rules for file name/skeleton parameters are no different from the rules for strings.

...but there are stricter rules for strings which are filenames - they can't contain just any bytes, they can't be null, there's a length limit imposed by the filesystem, etc etc.

My rule of thumb is that any string that holds a regular filename is a good filename string :). This means that it can't contain a quotation mark, asterisk, question mark, colon (except in position 2 if position 1 holds a disk letter), pairs of backslashes (except before a servername in a UNC address), multiple leading or trailing spaces... did I forget anything?

The quotation marks around a filename string are not part of that string, they are delimiters required for the command where that string is used, and I never make them a part of that string. If I have a filename in a variable or an expression, I use name expressions, period. Macros? Not for filenames.