In this shell script: > #!/bin/bash > i=0 > > printf "a a a\nb b b\nc c c\n" | > while read x > do > i=$[i+1] > echo "$x: ($i)" > done > > echo $i with this output: > a a a: (1) > b b b: (2) > c c c: (3) > 0 How to I can get the value (3) for $i out of the while loop? Many thanks -- Dario Lesca <d.lesca at solinos.it>