Lorraine,you second script, doc -e D {%C*(-8);};, is what I was looking for; but the Origin Manual sais that that -e D option for the document command works for "data plot in the active layer", and I did not expect it to work with a worksheet. After your suggestion I tried it, and it does! So my previous ideas using -e S, restricting it to a worksheet with an if condition, are not really necessary.
j.
P.S. This is not the first time that I find something of this kind: a bad description of a command or an option in the Origin Manual/Help File. If this -e D option, for instance, makes the command act over both worksheets and plots, it should be specified. Otherwise the user begins to think on how to combine the other options to get what he/she wants, as it was my case...
[This message has been edited by Jose (edited 10-26-2000).]