>RESULTS:
>I get "C" in VFP6, and "X" (.NULL.) in VFP7.
>
>EXPECTED RESULTS:
>Same in both VFP6 and VFP7 [Should remain C(0), not be changed to .NULL.]

That's a designed change in 7.0. Excel returns VT_EMPTY, which would more appropriately translate to NULL instead of an empty string.