Essentially, I have a standard format for file naming conventions. It breaks down to this: target_dateUTC_timeUTC_tool So, for instance, if I run tcpdump on a target of 'foo', then the file would be foo_dateUTC_timeUTC_tcpdump. Simple enough, but a pain for everyone to constantly (and consistently) enter... so I've tried to create a bash script which sets system variables like so: FILENAME=$TARGET\_$UTCTIME\_$TOOL Then, I can just call the variable at runtime, like so: tcpdump -w $FILENAME.lpc All of this works like a champ. I've got a menu-driven .sh which gives the user the options of viewing the current variables as well as setting them... file generation is a breeze. Unfortunately, by setting the date/time variable, it is locked to the value at the time of creation (naturally). I set the variable like so: UTCTIME=$(/bin/date --utc +"%Y%m%d_%H%M%Z") What I really need is either a way to create a variable which updates at runtime, or (more likely) another way to skin this cat. While scouring for solutions, I came across a similar issues... like this. But, to be honest, I'm stumped on how to marry the two approaches and create a simple, distributable solution. I can post the entire .sh if anyone cares to review (about 120 lines)