X=' "xyz@hotmail.com" "N" "DEVL" "SCOTT" "Western" "Elementary" "West Haven Elementary" "First Grade"' emailid="$(print $X|cut -f1 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" send_mail="$(print $X|cut -f2 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" sid="$(print $X|cut -f3 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" user="$(print $X|cut -f4 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" region="$(print $X|cut -f5 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" typ="$(print $X|cut -f6 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" org="$(print $X|cut -f7 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" asgn="$(print $X|cut -f8 -d\ | cut -f2 -d\" |cut -f1 -d\" )" echo $org returns West echo $asgn return Haven I need to org to return West Haven Elementary and asgn to return First Grade TIA Covina

A shell subroutine would process the passed parameters properly. # !/bin/bash assign_vars() { emailid=$1 send_mail=$2 sid=$3 user=$4 region=$5 typ=$6 org=$7 asgn=$8 } X='"xyz@hotmail.com" "N" "DEVL" "SCOTT" "Western" "Elementary" "West Haven Elementary" "First Grade"' eval assign_vars $X echo "emailid=$emailid" echo "send_mail=$send_mail" echo "sid=$sid" echo "user=$user" echo "region=$region" echo "typ=$typ" echo "org=$org" echo "asgn=$asgn" ./myscript.sh emailid=xyz@hotmail.com send_mail=N sid=DEVL user=SCOTT region=Western typ=Elementary org=West Haven Elementary asgn=First Grade

Thanks for your help. It works great TIA Covina