function fid = OpenDataFile(fname, N)

% fid = OpenDataFile(file_name)
% fid = OpenDataFile(file_name, num_header_lines)
%
% Opens a text file for reading, skipping the first header lines,
% if any.

% Liam Pedersen, NASA ARC, August 3, 1998
% version 1.0

if (nargin < 2) N = 0; end;

fid = fopen(fname,'rt');
for i = 1:N
   L = fgets(fid);
end

