is it possible to initialize a class with a dictionary? my first thought would be to create a method like: intializeWithDictionary: aDictionary then, loop through the elements and do something like: instVarNamed: key put: value but the book says: Caveat: Although these methods are useful for building development tools, using them to develop conventional applications is a bad idea: these reflective methods break the encapsulation boundary of your objects and can there- fore make your code much harder to understand and maintain.-- should i avoid this? ---- peace, sergio photographer, journalist, visionary #BitMessage BM-2D8VWUJSS41RFKh1ec83preVabHrnniExa http://www.Village-Buzz.com http://www.ThoseOptimizeGuys.com http://www.CodingForHire.com http://www.coffee-black.com http://www.painlessfrugality.com http://www.twitter.com/sergio_101 http://www.facebook.com/sergio101