yeah true... i know my while loops... but only in other scripts i use them something like this

alias showbans2 {
  set %ban1 $ibl(%ntv,0)
  set %x 1
  while %x <= %ban1 {
    if $ibl(%ntv,%x) !iswm $read(banned.txt, w, $ibl(%ntv,%x)) {
      mode %ntv -b $ibl(%ntv,%x)
    }
    inc %x 1
  }
  unset %ntv
  unset %askifcheck
  unset %ban1
  unset %x
}

just an example...
i was just taught how to code a certain way... to me it comes natural to just follow my protocol
thanks again Gooshie