> perl -pe 'while (/,\s*$/) {$_ .= <STDIN>; s/,\s*\n\s*/ /;}' <in >out > /=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ==========\ In this example, don't you have to set $* =1; to get the s/,\s*\n\s*/ to match. John Watson