Hi Loren, J. Atwood, Maik Thanks for all the info! I'll digest & give feedback where I can. In the meantime, this is what I've fixed up for myself (with a LOT of help from Roche Compaan) .. In DTML Document 'index_html':: <dtml-var docsSorted> In DTML Method 'docsSorted':: <dtml-if "REQUEST.form.has_key('sort_key')"> <dtml-call "REQUEST.set('sort_key', REQUEST.form['sort_key'])"> <dtml-call "RESPONSE.setCookie('sort_key', REQUEST.form['sort_key'])"> <dtml-else> <dtml-if "REQUEST.cookies.has_key('sort_key')"> <dtml-call "REQUEST.set('sort_key', REQUEST.cookies['sort_key'])"> <dtml-else> <dtml-call "RESPONSE.setCookie('sort_key', 'title')"> <dtml-call "REQUEST.set('sort_key', 'title')"> </dtml-if "REQUEST.cookies.has_key['sort_key']"> </dtml-if "REQUEST.form.has_key('sort_key')"> <table border="1"> <tr> <th> <a href="<dtml-var id>?sort_key=title">Title</a> </th> <th> <a href="<dtml-var id>?sort_key=origin">Origin</a> </th> <th> <a href="<dtml-var id>?sort_key=series">Series</a> </th> </tr> <dtml-if "sort_key=='title'"> <dtml-in "PARENTS[0].objectItems(['ccDocClass'])" size=10 start=qs sort=title> <tr> <td> <a href="<dtml-var id>"><dtml-var title></a> <dtml-if "AUTHENTICATED_USER.has_role('ContentManager')"> [<b><a href="<dtml-var id>/manage_workspace">Edit</a></b>] </dtml-if> </td> <td> <dtml-var origin> </td> <td> <dtml-var series> </td> </tr> </dtml-in> <dtml-elif "sort_key=='series'"> <dtml-in "PARENTS[0].objectItems(['ccDocClass'])" size=10 start=qs sort=series> <tr> <td> [... and so on for the other possibilities ...] The rationale is: 'docsSorted' is called as method by 'index_html'. - Upon the first iteration, there is no cookie and no form variable. A cookie and a form variable is set to 'title' as default. The form variable governs. - Upon subsequent iterations, if there is a form variable, then 'index_html' was called from 'docsSorted' and the sort-order has *just* changed. The cookie is changed (which will not be noticed during this iteration since it first has to be received again) and the form variable governs. - If there is a only a cookie and no form variable, it governs. Now I want to extend it so that choosing a sort-order for the *second* time reverses the order -- does this really entail repeating the entire '<dtml-if "sort_key=='title'">' section for '"order=='reverse'"'? I think I'm probably better off using the catalog for this, rather than dtml-in batching .. -- Jean Jordaan -- technical writer -- Mosaic Software -- Zope 2.1.6 on WinNT and W2K