In the case of TestHit, <handle> does not strictly need to be enclosed by quotes. Quotes need to be used only if the actual NAME of the variable is needed by the XCMD (as in the case of NewRgn and DisposeRgn, which need the variable's name in order to change its value). However, TestHit just needs to know its VALUE, which is passed if quotes are not used. By using the XCMD routine 'EvalExpr', we can determine the value of the parameter no matter which form is used. However, I suggest that you use the quotes to maintain consistancy.