>VAL(1/4) will return a syntax error. VAL('1/4') only returns the numerator, not the result of the of 1 divided by 4.
Good point. (Too early in the morning for me here. >g<) I meant EVAL() not VAL(), but didn't expect John to literally put the 1/4 in there because it really needs to be a variable that's set by his parsing routine.