I like to keep the individual lines in my source files relatively short. Mainly so that I can print them, email them, or display them on a narrow screen without needing to shift left & right. So, for a really long character string, such as an SQL query, I do something like: query=paste0("select CONVERT(smalldatetime,Int_Start_Date,11) as Int_Start_Date,", " CONVERT(smalldatetime,CASE WHEN Int_Start_Time is NULL then '00:00' ", "else LEFT(Int_Start_Time,2)+':'+SUBSTRING(Int_Start_Time,3,2) end +", "':00', 14) as Int_Start_Time", ", Int_duration, RTRIM(INTTYPE) AS INTTYPE," " RTRIM(Int_descr) AS Int_descr", ", RTRIM(INTSUBT) as INTSUBT, " "INDEXX, RTRIM(Label) AS Label", ", RTRIM(CHANGED) AS CHANGED, " "RTRIM(ALERT) AS ALERT, " "RTRIM(RELEASE) AS RELEASE", " FROM CPINTVL where Int_Start_Date BETWEEN '", startDateChar,"' and '",endDateChar,"'" ); So, just as an opinion, is the above "ugly looking" code compared to just having a really long line? Also, if you/re curious, when I started most programs were literally punched onto 80 column cards or displayed on 80 column screens. I still have some damage from this time (1970s). -- There is nothing more pleasant than traveling and meeting new people! Genghis Khan Maranatha! <>< John McKown