In my command window, if I type:

open database "e:\switch rec test\data\admin1"

. . . the database opens

However, if I type the following:

ctest = "e:\switch rec test\data\admin1"
open database &ctest

. . . I get the error "command contains unrecognized phrase . . .

I want to be able to open a database that isn't in the program path - is there a better way to do this? Of course I won't be hard coding the path - the example above is just for illustration.