i have been using [shell] to echo "$1">>"write this text to a file" but i am finding it very slow (between 20-30ms) to write one line - i am quite happy working with this method but am finding it way too slow - an tricks on how to speed up the shell? - seems strange that is so slow.
shell is fast, but it takes long to start it up. whenever you send a command, a new shell environment is created.
for alternative solutions with running "outside" programs, i once proposed a "server" that communicates with Pd via pdsend/receive on this list.
for appending lines to a file, you can use zexy's [fwriteln].
this doesn't solve your problem of grep/sed/awk though.
gfma.dr IOhannes
this is useful - i can write the files with fwriteln - then use the shell to grep them - the speed was needed at the writing end more than the grepping end - so this has solved my problem for now though i do need to come up with a more elegant solution in the long run thanks rob c