>I also have the situation with extra-long field right now, but I always look first if it can be done with APPEND FROM and it usually applies.

Just to echo and amplify Nick again (sorry if I'm beating a dead horse).

I'll stand by my earlier statements that APPEND FROM is a very powerful, versatile command, (well worth getting to know, Jill).

Like I think Nick is saying, whenever I need to get data from a text file (or any non-dbf source), I try to do it with APPEND FROM first. I'll only use low-level I/O when I've exhausted every reasonable APPEND FROM strategy. And I probably consider some APPEND FROM strategies reasonable that you (John) don't.

As usual, there are lots of ways to get there from here in VFP, and many valid reasons for choosing one, which may include what runs faster, what code looks "cleaner" or more elegant to me, and what method am I most familiar with (so I can produce code the fastest).

Rich.