>I am attempting to utilize OLE (Word) to allow a user to open an existing ASCII file, edit it, print it, & exit from WORD. I thought this would do it ...
>
>oleWord = createObject("Word.basic")
>oleWord.fileOpen(cFilename)
>release oldWord
>
>Nothing doing. WORD opens with the proper file and then closes before I am allowed to do anything.
>
>Any help out there ?

When Word is started as an OLE server, it exits as soon as the object is released.

Also note that they changed the behavior in Word7 -- it starts invisible just like Excel. You'll need to call Word's AppShow() method to make it visible.