diff --git a/tcl/startup/hdb.tcl b/tcl/startup/hdb.tcl
index 7882953..953c397 100644
--- a/tcl/startup/hdb.tcl
+++ b/tcl/startup/hdb.tcl
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ proc hdbItem {path title} {
           return
         } else {
           set cmd2 ""
-          if {[catch {set val [result $cmd]} msg]} {
+          # using {set val [result $cmd]} will have strange effects: 'xatto info' is like 'run xatto inf'!
+          if {[catch {set val [hval $path]} msg]} {
             if {$msg eq "ERROR: not read yet"} {
               set val ""
             } else {