>Do you have an idea, Sergey, why on an empty file I *can* index on SUBSTR(fieldx,1,7) yet a STRTRAN will not work?
Depending on the exact expression, strtran(...) will return a zero-length character string for an empty record (EOF).
SUBSTR() should cause no problems, since it is a fixed-length expression.
Hilmar.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)