wow. i actually come from a c++ background, but ive been doing _waaaaayyy_ too much java lately. good call. :) i cant believe i forgot that i use "defined" and not testing to see if it's != null....but i did, and we all make mistakes. ;-) anyways, thanks for the mini-lesson on standards and proper coding techniques -- i seriously lack these in perl, and i really need to start learning them.

anyways, thanks a lot for your help, it was exactly what i needed!

justin