I CANNOT, in all fairness, take credit for the 'input _text <*msg >*msg' tip. The suggestion was submitted by someone else about a year ago when I was going down the same path. Unfortunately the original message has been deleted and thus cannot publish the individual's name that provided this helpful tip. Regards Paul H. Christidis ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Re: Reading a MSG file Author: [log in to unmask] at CCGATE Date: 10/20/97 02:12 PM Paul H. Christidis' use of 'input' to open the message file for I/O seems to be a very good solution to script extended waits for input. Thanks for the tip! > ... > input _text <*msg >*msg > ... > In the 'input' statement above the CI opens the message file for I/O. Has anyone figured a way to WRITE to a MSG file from the POSIX shell without resorting to a callci statement or two? Sam 'working on a simple QUIZ report server for the web' Calvert