Gualtiero hit the nail on the head - it allows you to define a variable (or a variable scope aka struct) who only exists for the duration of the function's processing.
'What scope is it in?' - it's in the same scope as if you omitted the 'var' keyword. <cfset myVar = 'purple' /> <cfset var myVar = 'purple' /> In both cases, your variable would be in the 'variables' scope. One trick that many developers like to use is to declare a variable scope for your functions: <cffunction name="myFunction"> <cfset var local = structNew() /> <cfset local.val1 = 'blue' /> <cfset local.val2 = 'red' /> <cfreturn local.val1 & ' ' local.val2 /> </cffunction> Crappy example, but hopefully it illustrates the point. By setting var local = structNew(), you effectively create a variable scope that only lives for the duration of the function. Jake Pilgrim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Get involved in the latest ColdFusion discussions, product development sharing, and articles on the Adobe Labs wiki. http://labs/adobe.com/wiki/index.php/ColdFusion_8 Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:284811 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4