Andy> So I can't reproduce this on RH 7.0, so maybe there is Andy> something extra in your environment. I started XEmacs -vanilla Andy> and then brought up the file and switched on font-lock. Is Andy> there anything else I should do? Not sure. Maybe something else in the elisp stuff makes a difference (from two or three messages ago I'll resend if you like). Could it be a dark/light/auto background mode thing? Maybe the combination of faces I have? Maybe something broken on Debian. Thanks for all the help. Jim -- ＠James LewisMoss <dres(a)debian.org&gt; | Blessed Be! ＠ http://jimdres.home.mindspring.com | Linux is kewl! ＠"Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours." Bach