WOW GREAT!!! :p
but seriously, thanks for taking the time. the example you given me makes clear sense and this is how i wanted to set it up to work intitially but didnt think it could be done lol, for some reason i had it in my head there was no way to match up the directory of the scanned $file after it had been compared, i dunno what i was thinking tbh <.<. but yoru example does help me understand better other ways to parse data. i cant wait to get done with my flash tool i am working on and see how good you all school me on that haha. will be quite interesting hehe.
oh also i wasnt asking for anyone to make my code shorter :) i was just wanting some examples of how any monk or any other person would have done it differently. and this being an example with actual data i am using, it makes it easier for me to understand any examples posted. i DID however know that when monks stared posting examples of how they would have done it, it would be alot shorter code than the script i posted :)

thanks for taking your time with me, it will pay off for me in the end.i am wanting to learn and am learning, and with a few helpful hands from yall, i will be flinging files and code everywhere muhahaha!!!