>I came across a phenomena I'm not sure I was aware of. I had to track it down like a detective to find the source of the problem.
>
>2 variables with set exact =OFF
>x="E-01268001"
>y=""
>and I type "?x=y" and it returns .T. !!!
>is this normal behavior?

Yep.

With set exact off, characters on the left hand side of the operand are compared with characters on the right hand side of the operand UNTIL THERE ARE NO MORE CHARACTERS IN THE RIGHT HAND SIDE VALUE. Help has discussion on this.

Since y has no characters, it is equal to everything when used on the right hand side of the comparison.

Jay