>Thanks for the response. Got me pointed in a better direction.
>
>Examining lcMessage shows CHR(13)+CHR(10) in all the expected places. I should have checked this before posting.
>
>The message becomes the text of an email which is sent to my account. I should have paid more attention to the email. There is a message across the top
>
>"Extra line breaks in this message were removed"
>
>Don't have the problem resolved, but at least I know that it isn't a problem with the VFP code.

My preferred method is to have all the optional pieces of text textmerged into separate variables and then textmerging them into the main text (and they are empty strings if necessary). I think I get a better control of the text that way.