Les, I have to disagree about the parsing of txt files, it is not as hard as you make it sound [Smile]

here is a UDF that I made and use in a number of scripts.

code:
function LoadFile($file)
;this function will load the contents of a text file into an array
;you can use a ";" in the test file for commenting and those lines will 
;not be loaded
	dim $nul, $count
	dim $temp[5]

	$nul = open(1,$file)
	while not @error
		$temp[$count] = readline(1)
		if substr($temp[$count],1,1) <> ";" and $temp[$count] <> ""
			$count = $count+1
		endif
		if $count > ubound($temp)
			redim preserve $temp[ubound($temp)+10]
		endif
	loop
	if $count > 0
		redim preserve $temp[$count - 1]
	else
		$temp = ""
	endif
	$loadfile = $temp
	$ = close(1)
endfunction
INI files are good, but the limitations can be a show stopper.

But to load a flat text file, yes will require more code vs a INI file, but you gain much added control/flexibility for a very small price.