>>Never thought about that one. Maybe padr(alltrim(somefield), 40, " ") would keep the field at a reliable width of 40 or whatever number you select, thus avoiding the problem?
>
>Suppose that would work. Really the only thing I can think of that would require an ALLTRIM is the concatenation of two or more fields. Then the PADR solution would fit the bill.

And in that particular case, you're probably better off concatenating with the - operator, which moves the trailing blanks of the first argument to the end of the concatenation.