>Kenneth,
>
>In my VFP val("-20000.98") keeps the decimals but val("-20000,98") does not because I am using . as the decimal seperator (Tools menu / Options / Regional Tab). You can modify the VAL() statement like this:
>
>VAL( CHRTRAN( chr_fld, ",", "." ) )
>
>This will first replace the , decimal seperator with a . and then do the VAL().
>
>
>>How can I change the "decimal separator" in code? The default must be , but in this case I need it to be .

Look at the SET SYSFORMATS and SET SEPARATOR commands in your on-line help.