instead of "same?" use "equal?" and use "#" in single character tests. This works: ms: 0 str: "my+name+is+tim" forall str [ if equal? first str #"m" [ms: ms + 1] if equal? first str #"+" [change str #" "] ] print ["ms: " ms] str: head str print str >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04/05 12:36 AM >>> Hello All: I want to search each element in a string. I want to count occurances of some elements and change other elements ;example count every occurance of 'm' ; change every occurance of '+' to ' ' ms: 0 str: "my+name+is+tim" pairs: 0 forall str [ if same? first str "m" [ms: ms+ 1] if same? first str "+" [change str #" "] ] print ["ms: " ms] str: head str print str ;The preceding code obviously doesn't work. what am I doing wrong. TIA Tim