I find ( I think ) I will have to use PTY's. I know nothing about them. If anybody has any advice, pointers into literature, or small examples of running code with pty's I would certainly appreciate it. The FM (suffix of RTFM) is not at all clear about pty's. Jerry Freedman, Jr "Why did jfjr at mitre-bedford.arpa Unix come from the east?" (617)271-3191