>>>James,
>>>(not intending any squabble - .2 cents addition:)
>>>In a previous reply I saw fread() to count lines.
>>>Real problem with fread() it should be done byte by byte. The code I saw would error on first call to fread. fgets() could be used but it has a bug (cannot handle lines > 8192chars - maybe fixed in SP4?) OTOH for huge files (>1 billion lines < bg >) lowlevel sounds to be the only way (for >2Gb files I don't have an idea what OS response would be).
>>>IMHO Barbara's original reply is the best with a slight modification (so it's faster than array approach too):
>>>
>>>

create cursor dummy (f1 l) && Smallest possible to speed up
>>>append from (lcFile) type sdf
>>>nLines = reccount()
>>>use in 'dummy'

>>>Best regards
>>>Cetin
>>
>>Hi Cetin,
>>
>>I have a 382MB file. Dummy approach took 303.768 sec. Fgets approach took forever. I was not patient enough to wait, so I kill VFP. Right now I decide to repeat this test, this case with fgets(lnHandle,1). Seems to hang up also...
>>
>>Therefore your and David's approach is the fastest.
>
>Nadya,
>
>fgets(lnHandle,1) would read 1 bit at a time. That's why it is slow. fgets without the extra parameter would read the line until a carriage return is encountered. Actually this approach is ver fast, if you know you line won't exceed the 8,192 char limit.

Yes, I understood that already. First time I tried fgets(lnHandle,2000). Now I'm trying fgets(lnHandle) (e.g. without second parameter). Let's see, how long would it be.

Have you already made few tests?