bill wrote: >>I have to learn Python in a hurry. > > My apologies. I found what I needed. I don't understand it how > I missed it in my first round of searching. I don't know what you found, but I think you would appreciate Martelli's "Python in a Nutshell". For the really, really terse version, have a look at http://rgruet.free.fr/PQR24/PQR2.4.html