Or you can use char foo; . . . if (foo == (char) -1) to check for ``-1'' in chars. (4.2BSD "lint" didn't like this, though, for some reason.) -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 4251) UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!chris CSNet: chris at umcp-cs ARPA: chris at maryland