Hi, Run TeX on this file: \setbox0=\hbox{A} \showbox0 \end The log file is: .\tenrm A ! OK. (notice two blank lines) I also observed that: 1) If we use \showbox0 second time, spurious newline does not appear second time. 2) If we use \tracingonline=1, spurious newline does not appear. Best regards, Igor