Carl Distefano wrote:Yes, exactly. I was going to incorporate a routine (I think Robert or you posted one a year or so ago) to check for that extra "." but this renders it unnecessary. Many thanks.*Actually*, I take that back. One or more directory names in the filename path (VA$FP) might contain ".", in which case VA@ would fail; whereas XSR always works. So here's the code again, with the call to XSR restored:-- Patricia M. Godfrey PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx