I'm trying to use the following command to give me a listing of all files that do NOT end in ".Z": ls | grep -v .Z However, it is also excluding files that have a Z anywhere in the file name. I've tried enclosing the .Z in single and double quotes with no luck. Why does the grep command ignore the "."?

This appears to be in the wrong forum - but - grep interprets the "." as a wildcard for a single character match. To do what you want, you have to use the escape (\) character like so: ls | grep -v '\.Z' http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/unix/grep.html#wildcards Internet search engines are your friends. Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"

I'm not sure if you mean the file name can't end in Z or if it's extension can't be Z. (You specify they can't end in .Z instead Z.) I believe ls | grep -v '.Z' will ignore all files whose extension begins with Z. Disclaimer: This is all new to me.