Hey All!   
      
   I think this is a better idea;   
      
     PKT_DATE=( $(date +"%Y %-m %-d %-H %-M %-S") )   
      
   which the '-' characters in the format specs take care of any leading   
   zeros making them more suitable for farming out to a binary conversion   
   utility such as ascii2binary or perl's pack builtin function.  However   
   the second element (month) needs to be adjusted like so;   
      
     PKT_DATE[1]=$((${PKT_DATE[1]}-1))   
      
   The above takes care of the 0 to 11 month numbering scheme required by   
   FTN standards for the pkt header.   
      
   I believe this is a more efficient method than the previous post on FTN   
   packet headers using bash and eliminates the need for multiple date   
   calls and looks much neater.   
      
   Life is good,   
   Maurice   
      
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    * Origin: Pointy Stick Society (1:261/38.9)