i've a similar problem: here is the file i want to parse ================ @modname abc = 'A Business Company' @modinfo someinfo here... @modinfo note specialnote-lookup-from-other-file @fields 1 = 1 int 2 = 2-5 string 3 = 6 char @filename path/abc.csv @variable abc 3 text information about the 3rd field ================ As you can see, the file contain many 'sections' and each of them has format that are different. the only thing they have in common is the use of '@' as the section separator. please help Roy