Rob: I rewrote cat to use just read and write, as nature intended. I don't recall if my version is in any of v8 v9 v10 ... ==== It is. It was /bin/cat when I arrived at Murray Hill in 1984. I remember being delighted with the elegant way to get rid of a flag I had never really liked either. I never knew Dennis had dragged his heels at it. It was (to me) so obviously the right answer that I never asked! Norman Wilson Toronto ON