> > > > The "quick fix" is to kill all the hung chat
> > > >processes, and then everything works again. :-)
> > > Well, see, that's what I mean. When you're not around, there's no-one who can do this, so even if this is all that is needed to get chat running again, it won't work until you wake up/get back. Which is why I asked if it were possible to "give me the keys" so to speak, just so I could do simple stuff like this.
> > >
> > >
> > > >The real fix is to diagram a chart of all the
> > > >perl subroutines in the chat script, the
> > > >execution flow, and the external files they
> > > >access, so one can figure out how two processes
> > > >can get hung trying to access a files that the
> > > >other one has locked out.
> > >
> > > Ooo, sounds like fun!
> >
> > What ARE these two guys talking about?
> > How"not a clue"ard
>
> Oh, you know... diagram a chart of all the
> perl subroutines in the chat script, the
> execution flow, and the external files they
> access, so one can figure out how two processes
> can get hung trying to access a files that the
> other one has locked out.
>
> Sounds pretty simple to me. Tell you what Sam. Just allow me to look at the code for you. I've never done it before, but how hard could it be???
> After all, I *am* a hardware tech. I *do* know a bit about computers.
>
> Drac "Trust me" imas

Thanks for the explanation, Drac, I understand it all perfectly now.
Howard