Does anyonw know how to compare two strings to see if they match, i want to do the following... if string1 is not equal to string2 then echo "ERROR" fi it would be even better if i can compare mutilple strings in one line, if string1 is not equal to (string2, string3, string4) then echo "ERROR" fi

Try this: if ( $string1 != $string2 ) then echo "ERROR" fi

If these strings are defined as variables its pretty easy: lets start out with these variables a=1 b=1 c=1 d=2 If we do: #!/bin/ksh if [[ $a -ne $b ]];then echo Error else echo Good fi We would get "Good" But if we had: #!/bin/ksh if [[ $a -ne $d ]];then echo Error else echo Good fi We would get "Error" To compare multiple strings use the "OR" function (||): #!/bin/ksh if [[ $a -ne $b || $a -ne $c ]];then echo Error else echo Good fi We get "Good" becuase $a is equal to both. If we do #!/bin/ksh if [[ $a -ne $b || $a -ne $d ]];then echo Error else echo Good fi We get error because we are saying: If a is not equal to b OR if a is not equal to d, then echo error. Since a=1 and d=4 and are not equal the script gives the error. NOTE: When using the OR (||) you need to use the above syntax. Using: if [[ $a -ne $b || $c || $d ]];then etc fi That will not work.

that doesnt seem to work for strings...

Got it working, thanks