>>To check if a string is a valid numeric, ALLTRIM() the variable and then test each remaining character to see if it's in the valid character set ('0123456789.' for a decimal number).
>
>...using EMPTY(CHRTRAN(string,"1234567890. -",""))
>

Nice, but we still have to check to make sure that only one "." appears, and that "-" only appears as a prefix (unless the field can contain numeric expressions, in which case, all bets are off.) I'll steal this snippet if you don't mind - it's quicker that what I do now.

>Christof