From: anton.txt@gmail.moc   
      
   I wrote:   
      
   > What I need now is not a solution to any problem, but an   
   > explanation why my original example does not work as I   
   > expect it to.   
      
   Looks like the following interpretation sequence explains   
   it:   
      
   0. ENDLOCAL & CALL ECHO REF points to: [%%%REF%%%]   
   1. Expand variables in the entire line:   
      ENDLOCAL & CALL ECHO REF points to: [%VAL%]   
   2. Execute ENDLOCAL (losing VAL)   
   3. Execute CALL, expanding %VAL% into an empty string:   
      ECHO REF points to: []   
      
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