>>>>>>If you have been able to locate the error portion, use something like
>>>>>>

>>>>>> substr(mstr,1 , pos-1) + '.' + substr(mstr, pos+1)
>>>>>>

>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>minimally faster and for my eyes easier to read...
>>>>>

>>>>> left(mstr, pos-1) + '.' + substr(mstr, pos+1)
>>>>>

>>>>
>>>>

>>>>STUFF(mstr,pos,1,'.')
>>>>

>>>
>>>yupp, forgot that one, which is better
>>
>>would this not ADD the dot to whatever is already there??
>
>No it won't - the 3rd parameter is the number of characters to replace/remove (the replacing string doesn't have to be the same length, so you can remove 2 and insert 23, or any other combination. Including zero, when it removes none - then it's an insert.

thanks dragan - I was not aware of that - I have only ever used it as an insert but this certainly makes a lot more sense. thank you for the response and clarification dragan.
k