Usually this happens because you're assigning an object to it, rather than
the property  of the object that contains the text.

could you elaborate a little?

If setting the field  to {$RefNum} doesn't get the value of that parameter,
how would I pull the value out?

Good point. I read  and replied quickly (as you noted). Is it possible that
the error is coming from another textbox  on the page?

I assume this is a custom form  in SharePoint Designer; what does the control
look like in code view?

I don't think the error is coming from another text  box as when I remove the
{$RefNum}, the error goes away.

the code for the text box  looks like this:

<asp:TextBox runat="server" id="ff1{$Pos}"
__designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i',concat('ff1',$Pos),'Text','TextChanged','ID\
',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Title')}">{$RefNum}<SharePoint:FieldDescript\
ion
runat="server" id="ff1description{$Pos}" FieldName="Title"
ControlMode="Edit" /></asp:TextBox>

Is it completely unreasonable to go with a standard textbox? Instead of
<asp:TextBox /> use <input type="textbox" />

Also, is {$RefNum} really not an object? Are you casting it?

What about that SharePoint:FieldDescription control inside the textbox?
Shouldn't that go after the closing tag?

I will try to use a standard text  box when I'm back in the office & see what
happens. I'm not entierly sure what you mean by casting, or how to tell if
it's an object or not (not being a proper developer).

Regarding your question about the field  description control, this is all
sharepoint designer generated code, so I presume that everything is where it
should be? ... or does SPD get things wrong sometimes?

SPD can mess things up; see *http://tinyurl.com/2c24hmd* for another
annoying example. In any case, controls shouldn't be inside the textbox  (as
the error message states); remove it and I think you'll see different
results.

That's exactly what it was.................