Exclamation points also cause problems for XQuery syntax highlighting on oXygen 7.1. Try: (: this comment and the next line are highlighted properly :) declare variable $foo := "foo"; (: the next lines are highlighted with comment color! :) for $n in 1 to 3 return $n Remove the '!' from the comment restores the correct highlighting. -- David Sewell, Editorial and Technical Manager Electronic Imprint, The University of Virginia Press PO Box 400318, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4318 USA Courier: 310 Old Ivy Way, Suite 302, Charlottesville VA 22903 Email: dsewell@virginia.edu Tel: +1 434 924 9973 Web: http://www.ei.virginia.edu/