Novel idea but, this might be alittle better alias calculate { if ($2 == $chr(43)) { echo -a Answer: $calc($1 + $3) | halt } | elseif ($2 == $chr(45)) { echo -a Answer: $calc($1 - 3) | halt } | elseif ($2 == $chr(42)) { echo -a Answer: $calc($1 * $3) | halt } | elseif ($2 == $chr(47)) { echo -a Answer: $calc($1 / $3) | halt } } that covers everything