diff --git a/src/vido.cc b/src/vido.cc
index e2e1483..e8d4b80 100644
--- a/src/vido.cc
+++ b/src/vido.cc
@@ -49,8 +49,24 @@ Window *window;
 Widget *html;
 GtkWidget *html_wg;
 
+static zim::File zimFile;
+static bool initialized = false;
+
 // // // misc functions
 
+const zim::File get_file()
+{
+  if (!initialized){
+    std::cout<<"file not initialized :"<<file<<".\n";
+    zim::File zimFile(file);
+    initialized = true;
+  }else{
+    std::cout<<"file initialized :"<<file<<".\n";
+  }
+  std::cout<<"returning file"<<".\n";
+  return zimFile;
+}
+
 // // copy article html from while loop into global variable
 void set_article(std::string txt)
 {
@@ -62,8 +78,12 @@ void set_article(std::string txt)
 // // display random article
 void show_random(){
 
+    std::cout<<"random called"<<".\n";
+    zim::File m = get_file();
+    std::cout<<"random got file"<<".\n";
+  
     while(true){
-        zim::File m(file);
+        std::cout<<"random running loop"<<".\n";
         zim::size_type idx = static_cast<zim::size_type>(static_cast<double>(m.getCountArticles()) * rand_r(&seed) / RAND_MAX);
 
         zim::Article article = m.getArticle(idx);
@@ -92,7 +112,7 @@ void search_window(main_window *window_x){
 void set_html(const gchar *url){
 
 // //     create ZIM file accessor
-    zim::File m(file);
+    zim::File m = get_file();
 
 // //     convert url to string
     std::string term;
@@ -156,7 +176,7 @@ void set_html(const gchar *url){
 // // test functions
 void set_search(const gchar *url){
 //     std::cout<<"url"<<url<<".";
-    zim::File z(file);
+    zim::File z = get_file();
     
     zim::Search::Results result;
     result.clear();
@@ -208,7 +228,7 @@ void articles2file(){
     
     std::ofstream myfile;
     myfile.open ("articles.txt");
-    zim::File f(file);
+    zim::File f = get_file();
     for (zim::File::const_iterator it = f.begin(); it != f.end(); ++it)
         {
             myfile << it->getUrl() << '\n';
@@ -235,36 +255,44 @@ bool on_link_clicked(GtkHTML *html, const gchar *url)
 // // main function
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
+    if (argc == 2)
+    {
+      file = argv[1];
 
-    file = argv[1];
+      std::cout<<"vido is here file:"<<file<<".\n";
+      
+      Main kit(argc, argv);
 
-    Main kit(argc, argv);
+      main_window window;
+      window.set_title("Vido");
+  //     window.set_border_width(0);
+      window.set_default_size(320, 240);
+  //     window.set_resizable(0);
 
-    main_window window;
-    window.set_title("Vido");
-    window.set_border_width(0);
-    window.set_default_size(320, 240);
-//     window.set_resizable(0);
+      html_wg = gtk_html_new();
+      
+      html = Glib::wrap(html_wg);
+      g_signal_connect( G_OBJECT( html_wg ), "link_clicked", G_CALLBACK( on_link_clicked ), NULL );
+      gtk_html_set_caret_mode(GTK_HTML(html_wg),true);
 
-    html_wg = gtk_html_new();
-    
-    html = Glib::wrap(html_wg);
-    g_signal_connect( G_OBJECT( html_wg ), "link_clicked", G_CALLBACK( on_link_clicked ), NULL );
-    gtk_html_set_caret_mode(GTK_HTML(html_wg),true);
-
-    
-    ScrolledWindow scrolled_window;
-    
-    scrolled_window.add(*html);
-    scrolled_window.set_policy(POLICY_NEVER, POLICY_AUTOMATIC);
-    
-    window.add(scrolled_window);
-    window.show_all();
-    
-    show_random();
-//     articles2file();
-//     set_berlin();
-    Main::run(window);
+      
+      ScrolledWindow scrolled_window;
+      
+      scrolled_window.add(*html);
+      scrolled_window.set_policy(POLICY_NEVER, POLICY_AUTOMATIC);
+      
+      window.add(scrolled_window);
+      window.show_all();
+      
+      show_random();
+  //     articles2file();
+  //     set_berlin();
+      Main::run(window);
+    }else{
+      std::cout<<"You provided too many or too few arguments("<< argc <<").\n";
+      std::cout<<"Vido is to be used as follows:"<<".\n";
+      std::cout<<"vido [PATH TO ZIM FILE]"<<".\n";
+    }
     return 0;
 
 }