speaking of control structures...

there's a control structure i wish php had: a simple block that you can break out of, e.g. block { if ( condition ) break; blah... blah... if ( another condition ) break; blah... blah... etc... } the block is just like a loop except that it is executed once only. this would be a handy structure for writing input validation code. the blah blah fragments can be used for opening files, talking to the db, manipulating strings, processing dates and times, etc., the conditions for testing if the input is unacceptable. i'm sure many of the programmers here do this kind of thing routinely and have their own habits and solutions. i'd be curious what they are. please let us know! i guess i ought to go first. it's fugly but it works: $once = true; while ( $once ) { $once = false; stuff using break where needed ... } tom