Thanks Terry,
I tried using the interactive and yes 'binary' is the default sort order.
I am thinking a system variable wasn't set correctly or something when I installed the rep server(installed via an rpm)
I ended up cheating to make it work...
I used a compressed version of the .rs file from http://www.petersap.nl/SybaseWiki/index.php?title=Installation_guidelines_RepServer_15.7.1
but I will be tearing it down and rebuilding soon, so I can use your recommendations.
thanks again.
Rich