Usage: The dir_zip script may be invoked using any of the following forms: dir_zip (list of directories to be zipped) dir_zip < (name of file containing list of directories to be zipped) echo (list of directories to be zipped) | dir_zip cat (name of file containing list of directories to be zipped) | dir_zip The first and the third form may use wildcard characters, e.g. dir_zip p08* You can use a file to hold a list of only the directories for which you have update access.