dim gnfilehandle as system.io.filestream gnfilehandle = fopen(str_savedfile) 'this works fine at this point...file opens normally dim g_len as integer = gnfilehandle.length -1 'this is the line that stopsOnce I hit the last line there, the system sits for about 15 seconds, then my watch box shows that the gnfilehandle.length now shows "error:cannot obtain value." Between the fopen statement and the bottom line, the watch showed the correct length. My file "disappears"