Hi Hugh,

Thanks for responding:

> Maybe because it isn't a file?

Good point!   I assume you didn't notice that I running on WindowsXP/SP2. I 
didn't think of it,  but I do know some of Windows' stuff isn't reflected in 
file system (toolbars and menus come to mind).  I'll think harder about how 
I can expose sockets that are defined on my system

> srwxrwxrwx   1 mysql    staff          0 Nov 11 18:07 /tmp/mysql.sock
> srwxrwxrwx   1 mysql    staff          0 Nov 11 18:07 /tmp/mysql4.sock

It appears that in Unices, sockets are reflected in the file system even 
though they're not amenable to ordinary file operations such as append and 
copy & pastel

> And [cf your later message] don't put the MySQL root password in the
> yaml file, it gives those snooping too much power over your
> databases.

Right now,  I was just trying to see if I can get stuff working.  I'll take 
the passwords out of there if I ever get Rails talking to databases.

One glimmer of hope was just dashed when I uninstalled MySQL in favor of a 
gem install of it.  That failed and I didn't see any easy solution.

I reinstalled MySQL with the hope that one other idea might pan out, i.e. 
using the hard-coded address rather than the symbolic localhost.  One web 
posting suggested that Rails treats the symbol differently than the 127.....

Again,  thanks for weighing in.  I hope some Windows guy dials in with some 
success story.

Regards,
Richard