thanks to all for the advice (I'll have to work my way through it though...)

FYI, users have already been advised to set autocalculate off, and converting
to VB is not really an option at this time (I'm teaching myself as I go) - C
is even less likely...

Once again, many thanks!!

S

--
Instead of building bigger and better weapons of mass destruction,
we should be trying to get better use out of the ones we've already got....