Thanks Dennis, that's exactly what I was expecting of it - more or less the way Bryce handles the matter. Hope you won't mind me asking another few questions after playing with it for a while.
You''re right, there's no better way than experimenting and cursing until you find your own way out - however the measly hints normally provided by manuals help a lot - once you find them
"If anything else fails, try reading the manual" (R. Bloch, Murphy's law)