note Aristotle <blockquote><em> <code> $ fgrep blah <foo.txt | consolidate | dump $ preproc <foo.txt | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ additional <foo.txt | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump # vs $ cat foo.txt | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ cat foo.txt | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ cat foo.txt bar.txt | additional | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ real_stream | additional | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump </code> </em></blockquote> First of all, you're using a shell that's not braindead. Take the time to absorb its expressiveness. <code> $ < foo.txt fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ < foo.txt preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ < foo.txt additional | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump </code> Yes, that's valid code, go ahead and try. And you still don't need to edit more than one place to add multiple files. <code> $ < foo.txt fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ < foo.txt preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ <(cat foo.txt bar.txt) additional | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump $ real_stream | additional | preproc | fgrep blah | consolidate | dump </code> You don't need crutches in <tt>bash</tt>. If you need them, something is wrong with your tools. <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-114691"> <p align="right"><em>Makeshifts last the longest.</em></p> </div></div> 296742 296869