             for (var i:uint = 0; i < 16; i++)
             {
                 if (i == 4 || i == 6 || i == 8 || i == 10)
-                    chars[index++] = 45; // Hyphen char code
+                    chars[index++] = DASH; // Hyphen char code
 
                 var b:int = ba.readByte();
                 chars[index++] = ALPHA_CHAR_CODES[(b & 0xF0) >>> 4];

     */
	private static const ALPHA_CHAR_CODES:Array = [48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 
		55, 56, 57, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70];
	
	private static const HEX_CHARS:String = "0123456789ABCDEF";
	
	private static var EMPTYUID:Array = [
		'0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0',
		'-','0','0','0','0',
		'-','0','0','0','0',
		'-','0','0','0','0',
		'-','0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0','0'
	];

    //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    //

                // Check for correctly placed hyphens
                if (i == 8 || i == 13 || i == 18 || i == 23)
                {
                    if (c != DASH)
                    {
                        return false;
                    }
