>Hey all.
>
>Maybe this is rhetorical.
>
>But why do almost all VFP code examples insist on using a #DEFINE variable for MESSAGEBOXs?

I know and acknowledge all of the textbook reasons to use DEFINEs. Steve McConnel states that "magic numbers" are always a no-no. A magic number is any hardcoded numeric literal whose number is arbitrary. IOW, the only numbers you should have in your code are like 1 for a loop, or 2 for an array dimension. All others are bad. I agree.

BUUUUUUUT. The practical issues involved with littering your code with constants make the practice unbearable, IMO. At least in VFP. VFP is extremely goofy with regard to the "scope" of an include file, and its behavior with constants in the debugger, and its sometimes mysterious tendency to forget where include files are. As a result of these PITAs, I almost never use defined constants.