>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?

Yes.

From help:

However, when you compare character expressions with the = operator, the results might not be exactly what you expect. Character expressions are compared character for character from left to right until one of the expressions isn't equal to the other, or until the end of the expression on the right side of the = operator is reached (SET EXACT OFF), or until the ends of both expressions are reached (SET EXACT ON).