> also, i believe the regex Esteban gave will get rid of all white spaces
> - both to the left and right of the ip address.

actually, this isn't true so i  still have to use the strip method.

i have some regex experience - but not too much.

i pretty much take some pain killers and then try and figure out what i
need as the need arises.  ;-)

i'll bet this regex can be update to remove all spaces, however, i will
have to look into that next week.

thanks to everyone for getting me back on track.

i'm working on my first ruby program - and i'm impressed with ruby.

lots to learn, though.