I'd like to point out that the definition of (u)int_leastN_t is the smallest (un)signed integer type with a width of at least N bits (C99 7.18.1.2). Perhaps (u)int_least8_t can be useful for networking and file system code? -- Lars Brinkhoff http://lars.nocrew.org/ Linux, GCC, PDP-10, Brinkhoff Consulting http://www.brinkhoff.se/ HTTP programming