On Aug 31, 2015, at 6:55 AM, Mike - st257 <silvertip257 at gmail.com> wrote: > > I suppose my only options for this are to use shell functions or write a > script using a language that handles things properly (sanely?). No, there’s a fairly common hack around this problem: ibase=A and obase=A *always* means “base 10” regardless of the current base, due to a quirk in the way values for these settings are interpreted. Thus you can always force your way back to sanity. My objection is that this is even necessary in the first place.