Gee,
When did that change? I've padded combined expressions like that for years to avoid a problem that seems not to exist anymore. Just tested it without the PADR and surprise -- no problem.
>>select table1.employee_id, ;
>>ALLTRIM(employee.first_name) + " " + ALLTRIM(employee.last_name) AS FULL_NAME ;
>>FROM table1, employee
>>WHERE table1.employee_id = employee.employee_id ;
>>INTO table3
>
>Better PADR that expression, or you'll lose info if the first item has short first and/or last name.