i am simply trying to search a file for a specific line, and then duplicate that line immediately after the original - and print the entire file out to another file. it seems like it should be so simple, but i have tried everything i can think of. i tried to grep the line using -n to list the line # where it is in the file - and then cut the number into another file - so i have the number 86 in a file. i then used a while loop with x=$((x + 1)) to sed each line into a seperate file - and then when x=86, and matches what's in the file containing 86 - append the line. obviously this is wrong - there must be a very simple way - can anyone help? here is what i was trying to do... (the line i want to copy starts with "PS1") grep '^PS1.*$' profile > words grep -n '^PS1.*$' profile > line cut -c1,2 line > num x=1 echo $x > xx while test xx != num do sed -n "$x,1p" profile >> file.txt x=$((x + 1)) echo $x > yy cut -c1,2 yy > xx done i know the problem is that i can't test a file against another file - but i can't seem to get the 86 from those files into variables. i'm just starting out - and any help would be greatly appreciated! i know there must be an easier way.

sed '/^PS1/p' profile > file.txt

WOW! I really suck. thank you for humoring me and saving me from my ignorance.

It was obvious that you "did your time" on this one. Actually, I was impressed by your thought processes. When you get the hang of everything - stand back out of the way everybody!  :-D

thanks - that does make me feel quite a bit better!