SHELL unix system variable

Thanks for the answers to my security problem: setting the SHELL variable to /dev/null works. SHELL=/dev/null;export SHELL in the first line on the .profile allowed users to go straight to a locked-in menu shell, still allows them to call up informix routines and just redraws the screen when they do an ! to shell out or do a sh command. cheryl gross (903)334-3518 Red River Army Depot Texarkana, TX Also, As a try at getting ruchi what he needed: In bourne shell there is the cut command and I believe it would still work the same under ksh. cut -c2-85 filename > newfile would take characters 2 thru 85 and put them in file newfile create a file layout file: with the positions where you want data: #layout_file FILE "/full/path/newfile" (dataname1 1-3, dataname2 4-7, dataname3 10 - 51, dataname4 52 - 53; INSERT into tablename; Then create another file with your loadscript in it: #load_program dbload -d databasename -c layout_file -l errfile -e 1000 Prepare your file in the format needed to load to the database. Create your layout_file using the name of the file you created instead of newfile and replace dataname1, etc. with the database variable names that you have used in your database. The 1-3, 4-7, 10-51 are the positions where the data is found in your newfile Replace the tablename with the name of your database table. Create the load_program using database name layout_file name that you created above then Execute the load_program at the $ prompt. There may be another better way, but this works for us.