As Richard proved my problem was caused by my use of the archaic cr/lf character pair. Once I found the correct syntax for using \n my output of the loop counter worked. thanks for all the suggestions. My first experience on a PHP newsgroup and it was a postiive one. I've spent the last 12+ years using newsgroups for Paradox development and this group is *just* as supportive and knowledgeable. (no jokes about using paradox for so long. If your users can manage on a desktop solution, pdox can't be beaten for what it could/can do.) -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php