Rick I'm not going to second guess the answer to query 1 (i.e. TWO full stops). However the answer to question 2 (... mean I cannot tell whether there's a full stop character or not) is adequately answered in the Hints and Help For Beginners at: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/beginhelp.html scroll down to Transcribing Full Stops (Periods). If you think the instructions are not clear enough please let us know? Allan Raymond -----Original Message----- From: RichardCElliott@aol.com <RichardCElliott@aol.com> To: FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L@rootsweb.com <FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L@rootsweb.com> Date: 07 September 2003 15:09 Subject: Re: fullstops. Hello, I'm just curious. How should one transcribe the following: Smith John J.. ...Aston,6d 999 With TWO full stops? How about this: Smith John.[].... Aston, 6d 999 Where the brackets mean I cannot tell whether there's a full stop character or not. Should that be transcribed Smith John[. ]? This second example is tricky in that, if the bracketed character is a full stop, then the entire sequence of full stops are separators and the entry should be Smith John (no full stop). On the other hand if the unreadable character is just a space then the entry should be Smith, John. (with the full stop). Other variations come to mind. Without meaning to take sides on this issue, may I observe that the reason the full stop issue comes up so often is that it would appear that this is a case wherein the Type What You See rule seemingly clashes with Common Sense? Rick Elliott ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237