Does anyone knwow how to store and access Uart data in a variable. I can save the data from Uart to a varible "Set XX to decode uart1 read all"

but when i go to access the data two odd things happen.
#1: when lcd.print the variable appear correct.
#2: when the variable is used in a if/then statement, UIFlow/M5stack does not recognize the information as text .

So while i am able to print the information to screen i can not have the m5 stack make a decision on what to do with the info.

can any one give me some insight?