>As Mike said, the only time parentheses change what happens is when VFP expects a name. Then, the contents of the parentheses are treated as a name:

isolating/forcing a parameter out of passing by reference into value when calling as a procedure

uoh = 2
Do AreYouCertain with (m.uoh)
? m.uoh 

vs.

Do AreYouCertain with m.uoh
? m.uoh 

function AreYouCertain  tnuoh
tnuoh = m.tnuoh * m.tnuoh
? m.tnuoh 
return

;-))