/sys$common/syshlp/helplib.hlb PASCAL, Predeclared Routines, Char Strng, NE  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

  The NE function returns a Boolean value that  specifies  if  the
  parameters  are  not  equal according to the ASCII values of the
  strings' characters.

  Syntax:

     NE( str1,str2 )

  The  parameters  'str1'  and  'str2'  must  be  character-string
  expressions.   Compaq  Pascal  does not pad shorter strings with
  blanks.