Nick Maclaren wrote > x = (a != NULL ? a[i]->weeble : 0) + (b != NULL ? b[i]->wombat : 0) > [...] >What paradigms are there for replacing such constructions by? How about x = getattr(a, "weeble", 0) + getattr(b, "wombat", 0) ? Andrew dalke at acm.org