got it to work, however it's not too roboust and too innovative, but i kind of got tired of trying to do it the hard way and so here it goes......

Code:
string Selection;

  do
   {
       cout << "1.  HELP MENU \n\n";
       cout << "2.  INVENTORY DIRECTORY \n\n";
       cout << "3.  DELIVERY INFORMATION \n\n";
       cout << "4.  ORDERING DIRECTORY \n\n";
       cout << "5.  WAITING LIST \n\n";
       cout << "0.  EXIT \n\n\n\n";

        cout << "Enter a number (#) corresponding to your selection: ";

        cin >> Selection;

    clrscr();

   }while ((Selection != "0" && Selection != "1" &&
            Selection != "2" && Selection != "3" &&
            Selection != "4" && Selection != "5"));
thanks for the effort...


matheo917