I had to change your suggestion slightly to get it to pass correctly:

lcVal1 = "Walsh"
lcVal2 = "Elizabeth"
lcSQLstr = [INSERT INTO studnt (last_name_, firstname_, studnt_id_ )] + ;
[ VALUES (] + ?lcVal1 + [, ] + ?lcVal2 + [, 1)]
once I did that, the sqlexec gave me back an nice number 1 ;-).

Thanks for the help.
Beth

>The easiest way is to create parameters for the query

>lcVal1 = "Walsh"
>lcVal2 = "Elizabeth"
>lcSQLstr = 'INSERT INTO studnt (last_name_, firstname_, studnt_id_ )' + ;
> ' VALUES (?lcVal1, ?lcVal2, 1)'
>llReturnVal=SQLEXEC(ghConnectionhandle,lcSQLstr)

>Charles