In article <[log in to unmask]>, Ron Burnett <[log in to unmask]> writes (snip file stuff) > You do indeed >need to change that to 'rec=-2' as a minimum, otherwise >the file system will report that it can't write to the >output file. Curious that .... why can you successfully >build a file with rec=-1 if you can't write to it? Why would you necessarily want to write to a file? :-) But seriously, we have used such files as intra-system semaphores, so one jobstream could 'talk' to another. Only the presence/absence of such files was tested; their content was irrelevant. So naturally, we wanted them to be as small as possible, and not to be writable.... And lo and behold, HP came up trumps! -- Roy Brown Phone : (01684) 291710 Fax : (01684) 291712 Affirm Ltd Email : [log in to unmask] The Great Barn, Mill St 'Have nothing on your systems that you do not TEWKESBURY GL20 5SB (UK) know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.'