>>Jukka,
>>
>>{ is the beginning character of escape sequences in XBase. To print braces use {{} and {}}
>
>Why do you know that and I don't? I've been using XBase since DBase II.

The other place where this notation is used is the macros in VFP. Most of the special characters there have special names, so you may just type them while recording a macro, then edit the macro and copy their names. I tried typing {} while recording a macro, and got "{SHIFT+LBRACE}{SHIFT+RBRACE}" there. The macro recorder has taken into account that you need to keep shift pressed while typing the braces, but "{LBRACE}{RBRACE}" works all the same. Try to use this in your ???, it should work just the same as {{} and {}}, but may be a little more self-documenting (as much as ??? printing can be self-documenting).