According to the FM: "str.translate(map) Return a copy of the s where all characters have been mapped through the map which must be a dictionary of Unicode ordinals (integers) to Unicode ordinals, strings or None. Unmapped characters are left untouched. Characters mapped to None are deleted." So 'acxd'.translate(' '*97 + 'sdfg') should raise an exception, as the map is NOT a dictionary. However it runs and returns 'sfxg' This is a very nice feature - let's document it! -- Bob Gailer 919-636-4239 Chapel Hill NC