>I've never run into a problem with FOPEN either >until now. I have a file called phone1.pdb on >a diskette. I used lnFile = FOPEN("A:\PHONE1.PDB",10) >and also tried lnFile = FOPEN("A:\PHONE1.PDB") > >Both gave a -1 lnFile value which is an error. That's >why I posted the message. In VFP 5.0's help under >"binary", it says that a binary file can only be read >by the application that created it. > Yes, the app that created it is the only app that can "read" it in the native format, but, let's face it, when you're reading bytes, it really doesn't matter what app created it. What may matter is whether or not the file came from a UNIX system where each line is terminated differently than is in the PC world. What system or app is creating that file, "PHONE1.PDB"? ==Carl