>>>flat files is the way I'd like it. BTW, many moons ago I had >>>ArcServe which too tended to build and maintain its own >>>database (that could not be turned off), which by itself many moons ago I walked between the CPU room (IBM 4341) and the tape library(35,000+ tapes) with arm loads of 6250 BPI tapes... a good tape libraries was crucial in those days. The one we had was a really nice guy too no joke >>>became corrupted and could not be purged, so when it >>>eventually ate most of humongous (for that time) 4GB HDD - I >>>got rid of ArcServe, hating the very idea of backup catalog >>>databases ever since. >>> >>>Branimir >>> -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l