note Abigail-II <blockquote><em> Error checking is an idiom in itself. </em></blockquote> <p> Is it? If you were to discuss idiom for reading in a file line-by-line, would you present something like: <p> <code> open my $fh, "/path/to/file"; while (<$fh>) { chomp; ... } </code> <p> and dismiss the checking of the return value of <tt>open</tt> "it being an idiom in itself"? Error checking should be <em>part</em> of the idiom, and not something you bolt on later, when you are more experienced. <p> Abigail<br> --<br> Now that you have passed your driving test, let me introduce you to the function of safety belts. 284436 284521