Guys (DNH), I'm having trouble building a command line/string containing pipes and then getting it to execute all at once. This is in the lynxdump script I started: http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/dev/scr/net/lynxdump.sh I have created a god-awful nested 'if' jungle in the getdump() function that decides what to do based on command line flag settings. What I want to do is be able to piece together a command line that will ultimately look similar to this depending on the options entered on the command line: lynx -dump "$url" | grep -e '^.*rpm$' | grep -v 'debugsource' | grep -v 'debuginfo' | grep http | sed -e 's/^.*\shttp/http/' >> $ofile Basically what I want to do is respond to the following command line options and add the corresponding statement if the option is given: -r|--rpm grep -e '^.*rpm$' --nodebug grep -v 'debugsource' | grep -v 'debuginfo' I have tried replacing getdump() by simply adding the pieces like this: [[ $flagDir -eq 1 ]] && dirSTR="" || dirSTR=" -e '/\/$/d'" [[ $flagRPM -eq 1 ]] && rpmSTR="| grep -e '^.*rpm$'" || rpmSTR="" [[ $noDebug -eq 1 ]] && debugSTR=" | grep -v 'debugsource' | grep -v 'debuginfo' " || \ debugSTR="" dumpSTR="lynx -dump $url ${rpmSTR}${debugSTR}| grep http | sed -e 's/^.*\shttp/http/'${dirSTR}" Which gives the perfectly correct command line (rpm and nodebug options): lynx -dump http://madwifi-project.org/suse/11.0/x86_64 | grep -e '^.*rpm$' | grep -v 'debugsource' | grep -v 'debuginfo' | grep http | sed -e 's/^.*\shttp/http/' -e '/\/$/d' But when attempting to execute 'dumpSTR' within the script, I end up with an invalid option error from lynx: lynx: Invalid Option: -e Basically, lynx is considering everything in the string as options to lynx instead of recognizing the pipe. I have checked all lynx options hoping for a '--' option to say end of options, but no joy. Is there a trick that will work here. I'm sure there is, but I just don't understand it yet. What say the gurus? As last resort, I know I can apply the filters successively to the result of lynx -dump ... by making separate call for each piece, but I wanted to do it all in the single command line like I can just enter on the command line. Is this a stumbling block withing bash? Thanks for any help :) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org