> > I always wonder why people insist on doing > > cat file | otherprogram > > instead of just > > otherprogram < file > > To qualify for the most useless use of cat award of course. Or does Randall > Schwartz (sp) no longer hand those out? But given the original context, "wc -l <file" qualifies for the most useless use of redirection award. "wc -l file" works just as well. What a flexible program ;) -Jon Burchmore