We are switching over from our Unix version of software to a windows version. I only know korn shell scripting, and now need to learn VBScript. Can someone help me get started with rewriting a shell script in VBScript? What I need to do is loop through a directory looking for all files that begin with FPACTAPE.C*. I need to check and see if the first char of the first line is a "1", and the first character of the second line is a "9". If they meet that criteria, then I skip the file. Otherwise I need to concatenate each file into a file called CAAPACTP.DAT. Any help with getting me started on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott

It would probably be easier for me to write it for you than to walk you though it, but then you wouldn't learn anything! Start by reading through this page: http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/oreilly/windows/news/vbscriptpr_0201.html There is an example towards the bottom (source code provided) which searches through an entire drive for batch files. The program has a function that recursively calls itself in order to go into sub directories. If you are only needing to look in one directory (and not subdirectories) you will not need to do that. but the example should be enough for you to accomplish the first part of your problem of looping through files in a directory and finding the ones that begin with "FPACTAPE.C*" So start with that and post back if you have problem or question. Once that is done we can move on to reading the contents of the files. Michael J

Hi Scott, I don't envy you having to give up ksh and learn something else; but there we are. Like Michael J., it's easier to do it than teach it. VBS and perl both have more horsepower than BATCH scripts. For now, to get you going, you can try the BAT below. You will need to modify the drive/directory/filespec in () in the first 'for' line to suit your files to check. :: == cat-19.bat :: concat all matching files UNLESS: :: 1st char of 1st line is 1 AND :: 1st char of 2nd line is 9 @echo off > CAAPACTP.DAT :main setlocal for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%F in ('dir /b/s/a-d c:\temp\??.bat') do ( call :sub1 %%F) endlocal goto :eof :sub1 set currFILE=%* set lineNUM=0 for /f %%L in (%1) do call :sub2 %%L if %first%%second% neq 19 type %currFILE% >> CAAPACTP.DAT goto :eof :sub2 set currLINE=%* set /a lineNUM+=1 if %lineNUM% gtr 2 goto :eof if %lineNUM% equ 1 set first=%currLINE:~0,1% if %lineNUM% equ 2 set second=%currLINE:~0,1% goto :eof :: DONE ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

Thanks Michael J and M2. I hope to look into your solutions tomorrow. I've been working on some other issues here at work. I'll get back to you if I have any questions. Thanks again, Scott