not sure if this is outside the scope of this mailing list but i just downloaded the source for a simple SSL-aware ftp client (netkit-ftp-ssl), did the configure and the make and got: ftp.c: In function ârecvrequestâ: ftp.c:1127: error: âpdataâundeclared (first use in this function) ftp.c:1127: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once ftp.c:1127: error: for each function it appears in.) ok, fair enough, check the offending header file to find the following macro definition: #define is_ssl_fd(X,Y) ( (SSL_get_fd((X))==0) || \ (SSL_get_fd((X))==1) || \ (SSL_get_fd((X))==pdata) || \ (SSL_get_fd((X))==(Y)) \ ?????. so i have a macro which accepts two arguments, but expands to include an explicit reference to something called "pdata", which does not exist, hence the error message. i tend to avoid defining macros that refer to anything but their own arguments. what might the above mean? is there some well-known idiom for C programmers that makes the above, in some way, acceptable? (i've perused the code and the object "pdata", whatever that is, is simply not defined anywhere. so is there a context in which the above makes sense in some way?) rday