note merlyn You got it in the wrong order. You can't execute a BEGIN block before you compile it, and you compile it in the order in the file. So you've compiled the lone mysub at the top, then you compile the first BEGIN block, then execute it, then compile the second BEGIN block, then execute it and OOPS! there's the problem. <p> Put the lone mysub at the bottom of the file, and it'll be all good. <p>-- <a href="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/">Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker</a></p> 77580 77773