Karen,
Yup, I got that one backwards. Thanks for pointing that out.
John

>From following these threads, the only issue I can see that might arise with vartype() is that a variable might sneak in that is blank - apart from that, the values are guaranteed to be either C or N since I select the scope - so if I understand correctly adding a provision to deal with 'X' would cover all my bases. Correct?
>k
>
>>Added for speed was vartype(), which sometimes barfs where slower Type() works. returning wrong resulst I have not witnessed, it had the "X" for .null. as difference
>>>
>>>Beware, do not use TYPE(). It was added for speed but makes little difference and is known for returning the wrong result at times. I have seen this myself.