>>Most disconcerting though is example 2, where I repeat the original integer comparison - there you wouldn't expect any change in the way things work.
>
>Right. We need somebody like Jim Booth to go further...

Agreed, may be some of the experts can shed more light on this.

The problem shows itself with such a trivial example, I really can't bring myself to believe that it is a fault with the SQL in VfP - it must be something I'm missing, but I just can't see what.