thanks, this has been really helpful, but i need to run this on several files that have >1000000 records, which i can break down into smaller files if need be (migrating data in case you haven't guessed), hence the reason i was trying to find a one time fell swoop, the solution you provided is much better than me scrolling for ^M and hitting Shft-J five or six times, but also doesn't lend itself to being run unattended, do you know of a way to peform the same task with sed?

if not, the help you have given me has been great, and i appreciate your quick responses.

thanks again