> This suggests that you can not guarantee that the order of evaluation tha= t someone will apply will be the same as your own, so parentheses should be= used if there is any ambiguity in the expression. A very safe suggestion. I'm beginning to be just slightly stirred towards the point of view that there is no safe logic here, as oppossed to my prior view that there is only one fndamentally correct answer. But just slightly :-). The point that influences me is that one COULD claim that in 6/2 * (1+2) You may evaluate 2 * (1+2) or (1+2) * 2 and use the result as the divisor in 6/6. Thereby retaining the commutative nature of multiplication. This does not make me happy with the suggestion that the / effectovely is preceded by an implied bracket, but I better see the point. Any proper [tm] mathematics teachers here? (Please provide notarised certification of credentials when applying). Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .