Return Value of Function ?!?!

Hello,

I have a problem with my function here.
The Function read out a Description from a Norton Ghost Image File.

This works mostly with this Function. The Problem is when i try 
to return the value "Chars" out of my function at the end of the
Function like:
....
    FUNCTION = Chars
END FUNCTION

then i get an Error:
Relational operator expected
Line 230:     FUNCTION = Chars

when i try it like this: 
FUNCTION = LEN(Char)
the function returns a numeric value.

The Return Value of this function should be the Variable "Chars".

Any Idea what went wrong ?

Greetings 
Alen Hopek



FUNCTION read_gho_description(ghofile AS ASCIIZ * 50) AS LONG
    LOCAL Chars AS ASCIIZ * 255
    LOCAL start, ende, laenge AS INTEGER

    start     = &h100
    ende      = &h1FE
    laenge    = ende - start

    OPEN "C:\" + ghofile FOR BINARY AS #1
     SEEK #1, start
     GET$ #1, laenge, Chars
     REPLACE CHR$(0) WITH CHR$(32) IN Chars
    CLOSE #1
               
    FUNCTION = LEN(Chars)
END FUNCTION