Jay,

There is a problem with this method. If tcVariable = "5" or tcVariable = ".T." TYPE(tcVariable) returns N and L instead of U.

Any ideas,

Shane

>Shane --
>
>There are 2 commonly used functions to determine a variable's type.
>
>

>aVar = aVal
>
>cType = TYPE("aVar"), or
>cType = VARTYPE (aVar)
>

>
>Do note the use of quotes around the variable name for TYPE and the lack for VARTYPE.
>
>VARTYPE was introduced in VFP 5 and offers significant performance advantages over TYPE() (between 3 to 6 times). However, TYPE is a bit safer. If VARTYPE receives a value that can't be evaluated, you'll receive an error.
>
>For the simple case, you could just select which native function to use.
>
>Now, to determine if a string variable contains a variable name:
>
>Consider the following:
>
>

>X = "Y"      &&  Assign the value "Y" to the variable X
>Z = "X"      &&  Assign the value "X" to the variable Z
>
>lcTypeofVariable = TYPE ("X")     &&  Returns "C" as we'd expect.
>lcContainedVariable = EVALUATE (X) && Gives us an error message "Variable 'Y' not found."
>
>*  So, the value of X, which is Y, is evaluated as a variable, which we haven't assigned.
>
>*  Now let's take a look at what happens when we have assigned an underlying value.
>
>lcTypeofVariable = TYPE ("Z")     &&  Returns "C" -- as we'd expect.
>lcContainedVariableValue = EVALUATE (Z) && will contain "Y"
>lcTypeofContainedVariable = TYPE ("lcContainedVariable")   && Returns "C"
>
>* Because TYPE does an EVALUATE, we can actually shorten this as follows:
>lcTypeofContainedVariable = TYPE (Z)  && Note, without quotes
>
>*  This last format is particularly useful. If TYPE can't evaluate a value, it returns "U" for unknown, thus avoiding an error.
>
>*  So, your routine could look like this:
>
>FUNCTION   GetType
>PARAMETER          tcVariable
>LOCAL              lcType
>
>   lcType = TYPE ("tcVariable")
>   IF lcType = "C"
>      IF TYPE (tcVariable) <> "U"   &&  a variable could refer to any type
>           lcType = "V"             &&  create our own type value for "variable"
>      ENDIF
>   ENDIF
>
>   RETURN   lcType
>ENDFUNC
>
>

>
>Enjoy!
>
> Jay