thanks charles,
the rs(1) seems to be the right choice for me! :o)

one more question - if i read empty string into a variable in a script 
(/bin/ksh) (i.e. user just hits enter) and i want to test the variable, 
i always get an error message (the same applies to space and probably 
other white characters)

read variable
if [ $variable = "abc" ]
then
   ...
fi

produces
[: abc: unexpected operator

if [ $variable = "" ]
or
if [ $variable = " " ]
works fine...  so how do i tell the system that empty string (or 
space-filled string) is ok? man test doesn't tell me anything :o(

regards,
lubos

-- 
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Lubos Vrbka
National Centre for Biomolecular Research
Masaryk university, Brno, Czech Republic

shnek@chemi.muni.cz
http://www.chemi.muni.cz/~shnek
tel. +420 541 129 508
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