$|=1; is currently in a script for a guestbook-- which obviously generates a webpage, so that makes sense. Thanks for explaining that. I'm having problems with another script-- for a survey (poll)-- that also generates a webpage. (My original question above has a link to it if you'd like to take a look) The problem is that a link in that webpage for "continue" doesn't contain the value that it's supposed to, and is instead just empty quotes (""). Maybe if I add this "unbuffering", then the link will print correctly. Sounds like it's worth a try. Thanks everybody!