Hi, the following sql call works in a shell returning the value I expect in a form that I expect after logging into sqlplus. SELECT pck_crypto.decrypt(uss.ftp_password) FROM up_stream_systems uss WHERE LOWER(uss.ftp_user) = 'ftpbsmsl'; Putting it into the following script does not. #!/bin/bash if [ $# != 1 ] then echo "'$0 $*' Invalid" echo "USAGE: $0 parameter1"; exit 1 fi tst_USER=$1 echo $tst_USER PMC_PASSWORD=`sqlplus -s / << PMC SET HEADING OFF SELECT pck_crypto.decrypt(uss.ftp_password) FROM up_stream_systems uss WHERE LOWER(uss.ftp_user) = ${tst_USER} EXIT PMC` if [ ${PMC_PASSWORD} ] then echo $PMC_PASSWORD else echo "No rows returned from database" fi How can I preserve the single quotes around the value that sql needs to test against the column in the here doc? tia,

I haven't used Red Hat in a long, long time, but try using \' for your inside quotes.

thanks Razor, that's ideal :)

Since bash recognizes the \ (backslash character) as an escape character this should work in any distribution that uses bash as the default command interpreter. Ernie Registered Linux User 247790 ICQ 41060744