Combining the above two great ideas, I would suggest not just a straight-forward database, but I would also split up the numbers into area code, exchange, extention. (And, if you want, country code - but sounds like you're just dealing with the US, so this would always be '1'.) This would allow the database to also set up indexes on area code and exchange for faster lookups. Ok, you have to tell the database to create indexes, but then you'll be able to do so.

In reply to Re: Searching text files by Tanktalus
in thread Searching text files by SteveS832001

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