ppl,

this is my "file" with fields

orderno orderdate orderdesc telno street city
1 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa
2 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa
3 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa
4 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa
5 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa
6 01/04/2006 abc 123 100 tampa

searching for lines with ordernos 3,4 and 5 in a loop as:

ll=3
ul=5

while [ $ll -le $ul ]
do
grep '^$ll\>' file
ll=$((ll+1))
done

gives me null output.

pls help with the correct expression to retrieve the required lines. UNDERLINE.. the key to search is only the first field.. all other fields are same and can't be used. (p.s. however the expression is working with substituted values of $ll (if i hard code $ll with 3, 4 or 5.. i get correct results)

Thanks a lot in advance,
Sirisha