>Erik,
>
>Mr. Pikman can speak for himself - maybe *HE* does not use THEN in VFP, but others can and do! I guess his "we" is the 'royal we'.
>
>Mr. Pikman has also, as near as I can tell, indirectly told you the solution to your problem - you do not have a equal-sign before the MESSAGEBOX, so it probably is not being recognized as a command. This would mean that you (effectively) have NOTHING after the ELSE, so the debugger isn't actually lying to you.

Microsoft supports lots of things that they don't advise!
So, just because VFP supports THEN it doesn't mean you should use it. Here's why:

- If you came from VB you have some time to get used to VFP's syntax
- The natural step above VFP is C wich DON'T support THEN.
- Once in VFP you'll never want to go back to VB
- THEN is not standard xBase.

I guess I'll join Mr. Pikman's 'royal we'!