i have a listbox with players inside it with the players name set as the lbText and the lbData set as their actual name like R Alpha 1-1:1 (name). however i had to add that name in as a string to the listbox, now when i go to extract that name out of there its in the form of a string and i cannot seem to convert it to anything of use. i have found\tried __unit = missionNamespace getVariable [_unitClass, objNull]; and it returns null unless i give that is selected a variable name, if the unit has a variable name then it works just fine, however i do not want to set variable names for every unit just for this, any ideas? using hint and setdamage as a test _index = lbCurSel 1001; _unit = lbData [1001, 0]; _obj = missionNamespace getVariable [_unit, objNull]; hint str _obj; _obj setDamage 1;