a little out of my comfort zone and have practically gotten what I want but awk seems determined to send a message via std error which is problematic and annoying. Basically trying to get a list of virtual host names from nginx config files like this: $ awk -F" " '/./ { if ( match ( "^server_name$", $2 ) ) print $1 }' /opt/nginx/sites/*.conf \ | grep -v server_name | grep -v ';' | grep -v '}' and the list of virtual host names is perfect except that I get this line first... awk: (FILENAME=/opt/nginx/sites/ids.conf FNR=55) fatal: Unmatched ( or \(: /($host/ and I can't seem to dismiss it and I definitely don't want it in my data scrape. Anyone know how to prevent this? (yes, there are lines in the file that say 'if ($host = something) {' -- Craig White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ craig.white at ttiltd.com 1.800.869.6908 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.ttiassessments.com Register Now! TTI Winners' Conference 2013 January 20th - 22nd The Earlier You Register the More FREE Product You Receive Click here for more information!