Hi binyomin, If you are doing your writing from your java application you can use classes in the java.io package to write wherever you want (see File class and FileOutputStream, and FileWriter classes. I would assume you can also pass a path into the java program as an argument, but as I am still new to java myself I can't say how to do this. Hope this is of use. Rgds James binyomin segal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: hi all, i am not a linux person (though the more i use it the more i like it) so please go slowly. we are working on a cross-platform (mac/win/linux/solaris) java solution. right now im working on the linux piece - we're using redhat 6.2 and blackdown java 1.2.2. the solution interacts with various cds and creates a database on the users hard drive of info based on those cds. to get the program working i was using the following shell script: #!/bin/bash cd / cd /usr/local/jre1.2.2/bin export CLASSPATH=/root/myDirectory:/root/myDirectory/myJar.jar bash java myApplication the problem with that shell is that because it leaves the prompt in the jre/bin directory any reading/writing of files defaults to there. so i tried the following: #!/bin/bash export CLASSPATH=/root/myDirectory:/root/myDirectory/myJar.jar: /usr/local/jre1.2.2/bin export PATH=$CLASSPATH:$PATH bash java myApplication this does not work instead i get a "can't find libjava.so." error any help would be appreciated please feel free to email me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] tia ben ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]