>Hi,
>
>I need a method of a object to return some strings (actually two). I can declare the variables as Private before calling the method and set the values of the variables inside the method.
>Or I can declare the variables Local and pass them by reference (with @). Therefore, when passing by reference the variable value can be set within the method and afterward get the value.
>What is better practice?

I know you found a good solution and it's likely what I would do, as well. But I wanted to answer the original question. It's bad practice in general for a routine to assume that certain variables exist. While passing parameters to a function by reference isn't great (such a function is said to have "side effects"), it's a better choice.

Tamar