ml> why space padding? the strings are null terminated... no padding    
    ml> needed...   
      
    BP> how can i know ?   
      
   are you not a "hacker" in the old school sense of the phrase? simple look at   
   the existing and you will see one of two basic formats and possibly one that   
   incorporates both... the most obvious format is the null terminated which   
   doesn't care about string length other than seeking to the first nul character   
   in the field... that C style... pascal style carries a string length byte at   
   the beginning of the string chatacter array ;)   
      
   )\ /(ark   
      
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12)