>The term __THROW is a *macro*. It expand to "throw()" in C++, and to "" >(empty, no characters) in C Ah this clears the whole lot. So we are talking about a CONDITIONAL value of __THROW Yep, you are absolutely right. __THROW is defined to be as throw() if __cpluplus and __GNUC_PREREQ are defined else it is defined as empty I will follow up the concepts of __cplusplus and __GNUC_PREREQ and __GLIBCPP_USE_NAMESPACES e.t.c e.t.c from Google or from a C++ list Thankyou that clears the whole concept. This stupid topic is closed. And thanx for putting up with me and my idiotic questions. SNODX PS: WHERE FROM DO YOU GUYS GET SO MUCH OF TIME FOR ATTENDING THE QUESTIONS (IDIOTIC QUESTIONS?) ON THIS LIST. WISH I HAD ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD LIKE YOU