Macropod..... Thank you for your response... I did an auto check for errors prior to attempting the "Complete Merge" (and it returned as ok...) However it is possible that some malformed data in your file (eg unmatched quote marks) may have found its way into the data file... and I'm not sure if that would return an error or not, being it's not an official data error. I will look into that.

thanks much

ps... thanks also for the cross posting info... I am very new to using the forums, and do apologise for the not understanding the protocol... again thank you....

dj