aha, that makes sense... thanks a lot, everyone. I've used the splat before at the end of parameter lists, eg def a_method(a_thing, *args) But i guess i didn't really properly understand what it does. I can't find an explaanation in pickaxe, although it's not the simplest thing to look for in the index (there's no listing for 'splat' and a lot of listings for '*'). -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.