Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method for performing in-line text expansion. A program on a user system requests a data file from a server system. The data file is received and stored by the user system and then displayed. Displaying the data file includes reading a record from the data file and then displaying the header data on the user system screen. Additionally, if the display body flag for the record is set to “ON”, the body data contained in the record is also displayed on the user system screen. Each record in the data file is displayed in this manner. The user screen can also be updated in response to the user selecting particular fields on the screen. The first case is when the user selects header data for a particular record and the body display flag is set to “ON.” In response to the user selection the method will remove the associated body data from the screen and set the body display flag to “OFF.