>To make it simpler:
>SELECT IIF(empty(dtcompl),"''","'" + DTOC(dtcompl) + "'") from mevmast where citat LIKE 'BA83311%'
>
>results in '0
>
>SELECT IIF(empty(dtdisp),"''","'" + DTOC(dtdisp) + "'") from mevmast where citat LIKE 'BA83311%'
>
>results in '10/26/90'
>
>Both fields are of the date type, length 8, and contain a date value. What could cause this?

Why don't you directly say :

SELECT dtcompl from mevmast where citat LIKE 'BA83311%'

Cetin