Ah, I think I see what's going on. Basically, what's in $directory is being interpolated twice in the pattern match. The first interpolation is going from $directory to .\v706_7-17 and then it's being interpolated again, so it's looking for a vertical tab and then 706_7-17. And the forwardslash worked because it isn't a metacharacter. Thanks. That quotemeta will be useful in the future. I'd never heard of it before.