Artik,

Thanks. My puzzlement was more like what was the purpose of "Empty" The conclusion I came to was mana used Empty not for some real intended purpose but that it really didn't matter what he used. I can replace Empty (which okay might preserve some resources) with:

        If Not dic.Exists(n) Then
            dic.Add n, "Bob' your uncle"
        End If
... and the process works just as well.

Best Regards,
Greg Maxey

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
~ Mark Twain