Greg,
>>3. Can field names only be referenced by the alias as in tablealias.fieldname? If a field is referenced without the alias, it is a variable and if not declared in a LOCAL statement then it is a compiler error.
>>4. The use of m.dot is permitted for backward compatiblity but not required. Variable names must be declared as LOCAL
I take your point that forgetting m. can cause chaos if you have matching field and variable names. I think this was a big issue in the SCATTER/GATHER days when SCATTERed variable names matching field names could mimic optimistic locking and similar. But I think a lot of developers began using variable lcMyField or similar to distinguish variables from field names, or scatter to object, in which case your variable reference always must be clear.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
