Bob,

Are you saying there is a significant timing difference between these two versions of code in the exact same place in code:

Version 1:

select * from contacts where UPPER(NLAST)="SMITH" AND UPPER(NFIRST)="JOHN" into table c:\temp\foundit

Version 2:

pcFilterString='UPPER(NLAST)="SMITH" AND UPPER(NFIRST)="JOHN"'
select * from contacts where &pcFilterString into table c:\temp\foundit

It should be pretty insignificant for the compile time of this simple macro