OK. Using TRACE, i found that read-line wasn't returning nil, but
something like #<END-OF-FILE>. So i added the third optional parameter,
the one that tells it what to return at end of file. This made me do
the (IF) backwards:

;; count lines
(with-open-file (ifile "key.html" :direction :input)
                (setf nlines 0)
                (loop
                  (if (eql 'eof (read-line ifile nil 'eof))
                    (return (print nlines))
                    (setf nlines (+ 1 nlines)))))

And it works...

And, of course, this works too:

(with-open-file (ifile "key.html" :direction :input)
                (setf nlines 0)
                (loop
                  (if (read-line ifile nil nil)
                    (setf nlines (+ 1 nlines))
                    (return (print nlines)))))

So, i plod along, undaunted...
I'm pretty sure this is an ugly program, and i appreciate suggestions.

--
Glauber Ribeiro
theglau...@my-deja.com
"Opinions stated are my own and not representative of Experian"