Thanks to all who replied; none of the suggested permutations of the rpm
command have made any difference- I agree that I probably need to
re-install rpm. I didn't install it originally; I was told it came
bundled with the OS and had already been used in the install of various
system components on the Linux server; however it sure seems less than
healthy at this point. Wish me luck.....
 
Thanks again,
 
Jane M