I would just store the formatting characters. Disk space is not hard to come by nowadaze. Then when you output the information, you don't have to remember to run it through any function to display it properly. But I suppose there would be arguments for any solution...

Joe

>Thanks Nancy, but this is not an international app. It's just a mailing list that mails to people all over the
>world.
>
>Bill
>
>>I don't have a direct suggestion except to suggest you look at www.stevenblack.com for tools specifically geared toward international apps.
>>
>>>I'm trying to decide whether to store zip codes and phone #s in the dbf with or without the formatting characters.
>>>
>>>I have a client who needs to store American, Canadian, Mexican and various European zip/postal codes
>>>and phone #s.
>>>
>>...snip