Here is an example of one idea, although there may be a cleaner way. I've used an ls -l command to get a particular file size instead of the orastat in your code, then compare that to a previously defined threshold. Basically, I take the threshold and the ls result and concat them into one variable with a space in between. Then, send that value into your awk statement for the test of $1 to $2. hp19:/home/dlandrum $ cat ak export WARNING_THRESHHOLD=10 export TBS_WARNING=`ls -l test.ksh| awk '{print $5}'` export CHK_TBS_WARNING="$TBS_WARNING $WARNING_THRESHHOLD" echo $CHK_TBS_WARNING | awk '{if ($1 > $2) print $1}' hp19:/home/dlandrum $ ksh -x ak + export WARNING_THRESHHOLD=10 + awk {print $5} + ls -l test.ksh + export TBS_WARNING=21 + export CHK_TBS_WARNING=21 10 + echo 21 10 + awk {if ($1 > $2) print $1} 21 ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Green" <thump@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 6:11 PM Subject: awk question ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------