Hi, for all of those who already knowing that bash can not be used for doing things like echo 1 2 | read a b echo $a $b may test out the current bash 4.1.7 in the repository http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/shells/ for SLES11, SLES11-SP1, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, and factory. bash> echo 1 2 | read a b; echo $a $b 1 2 bash> echo 1 2 | while read a b; do x=$a y=$b; done bash> echo $x $y 1 2 ... compare with point E4 of the FAQ of the bash e.g. at http://www.unixguide.net/unix/bash/E4.shtml Werner -- "Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool." -- Edward Burr -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org