Can any one tell me why do u get a file descriptor 0 (zero) even after not closing the stdin. Here is my code (partial code) #define FIFO1 "/tem/fifo1" #define FIFO2 "/tem/fifo2" ReadFd = open(FIF01, O_RDONLY, 0); WriteFd = open(FIF02, O_WRONLY, 0); When i tried to print ReadFd and WriteFd; i got both the values zero, my gcc version is 2.96 under redhat linux . Can any one help me. Leela hn