merlyn,
I didn't want you to think I wasn't taking your advice. In fact I've been following it. It took me a short while but I was actually reviewing 'search in progress' when I came back to check for replies.
So far this seems to be exactly what I was looking for! I *really* appreciate it and will let you know when I've done my re-write and tested.
Thanks again, bp
I wanted to thank you. This does work on linux. Unfortunately this particular app is on win32 (ugh!!) and I'm kinda where I started :-( Active State says "A way to mark a pseudo-processes as running detached from their parent (so that the parent would not have to wait() for them if it doesn't want to) will be provided in future." Suggestions?