diff --git a/scripts/carray.sh b/scripts/carray.sh
index a2b05d31..2580fac9 100755
--- a/scripts/carray.sh
+++ b/scripts/carray.sh
@@ -45,42 +45,108 @@ if [ ! -f "${CONFIG_FILE}" ]; then
 	usage
 fi
 
-TYPE_HEADER=$(awk '{ if ($1 == "HEADER:") { printf $2; exit 0; } }' "${CONFIG_FILE}")
-if [ -z "${TYPE_HEADER}" ]; then
-	echo "Must specify HEADER: in input config file"
-	usage
-fi
+# use single awk script to run conversion, but leave in .sh file as awk is
+# bad for getopt, and leaves the original script name alone.
 
-TYPE_NAME=$(awk '{ if ($1 == "TYPE:") { printf $2; for (i=3; i<=NF; i++) printf " %s", $i; exit 0; } }' "${CONFIG_FILE}")
-if [ -z "${TYPE_NAME}" ]; then
-	echo "Must specify TYPE: in input config file"
-	usage
-fi
+awk -v"CONFIG_FILE=${CONFIG_FILE}" -v "SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $0`" -v"VARLIST=${VAR_LIST}" '
+function array_length(a)
+{
+    result = 0
 
-ARRAY_NAME=$(awk '{ if ($1 == "NAME:") { printf $2; exit 0; } }' "${CONFIG_FILE}")
-if [ -z "${ARRAY_NAME}" ]; then
-	echo "Must specify NAME: in input config file"
-	usage
-fi
+    for (i in a)
+	result++
 
-MEMBER_NAME=$(awk '{ if ($1 == "MEMBER-NAME:") { printf $2; exit 0; } }' "${CONFIG_FILE}")
-MEMBER_TYPE=$(awk '{ if ($1 == "MEMBER-TYPE:") { printf $2; for (i=3; i<=NF; i++) printf " %s", $i; exit 0; } }' "${CONFIG_FILE}")
-if [ -n "${MEMBER_NAME}" ] && [ -z "${MEMBER_TYPE}" ]; then
-	echo "Must specify MEMBER-TYPE: when using MEMBER-NAME:"
-	usage
-fi
+    return result
+}
 
-printf "// Generated with $(basename $0) from $(basename ${CONFIG_FILE})\n"
-printf "#include <%s>\n\n" "${TYPE_HEADER}"
+function get_fields(start, end)
+{
+    result = $start;
 
-for VAR in ${VAR_LIST}; do
-	printf "extern %s %s;\n" "${TYPE_NAME}" "${VAR}"
-done
-printf "\n"
+    for (nr = start+1; nr <= end; nr++) {
+	result = result " " $nr
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
+BEGIN {
+      split(VARLIST,VAR_LIST," ")
+}
+
+# process items from the config file
+
+/^HEADER:/	{ TYPE_HEADER = $2 }
+/^TYPE:/	{ TYPE_NAME = get_fields(2, NF); }
+/^NAME:/	{ ARRAY_NAME = $2}
+/^MEMBER-NAME:/	{ MEMBER_NAME = $2 }
+/^MEMBER-TYPE:/ { MEMBER_TYPE = get_fields(2, NF); }
+
+# code to dump the generated .c file once config file is processed
+
+END {
+    # enable for debug
+    if (length(ENVIRON["CARRAY_DEBUG"]) > 0) {
+	print "ARRAY_NAME  " ARRAY_NAME > "/dev/stderr"
+	print "TYPE_HEADER " TYPE_HEADER > "/dev/stderr"
+	print "TYPE_NAME   " TYPE_NAME > "/dev/stderr"
+
+	print "VAR_LIST length is " array_length(VAR_LIST) > "/dev/stderr"
+	for (v in VAR_LIST) {
+	    print "VAR_LIST " v  " = " VAR_LIST[v] > "/dev/stderr"
+	}
+    }
+
+    if (array_length(VAR_LIST) == 0) {
+	print "Warning; no VAR list on command line"  > "/dev/stderr"
+    }
+
+    if (length(ARRAY_NAME) == 0) {
+	print "Must specify NAME: in input config file"  > "/dev/stderr"
+	exit 1
+    }
+
+    if (length(TYPE_NAME) == 0) {
+	print "Must specify TYPE: in input config file"  > "/dev/stderr"
+	exit 1
+    }
+
+    if (length(TYPE_HEADER) == 0) {
+	print "Must specify HEADER: in input config file"  > "/dev/stderr"
+	exit 1
+    }
+
+    if (length(MEMBER_NAME) > 0 && length(MEMBER_TYPE) == 0) {
+	print "Must specify MEMBER-TYPE: when using MEMBER-NAME:" > "/dev/stderr"
+	exit 1
+    }
+
+    printf "// Generated with %s from %s\n", SCRIPT_NAME, CONFIG_FILE
+    printf "// DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY\n"
+    printf "\n"
+    printf("#include <%s>\n\n", TYPE_HEADER)
+
+    for (v in VAR_LIST) {
+	printf("extern %s %s;\n", TYPE_NAME, VAR_LIST[v])
+    }
+    print ""
+
+    if (length(MEMBER_TYPE) > 0) {
+	TYPE_NAME = MEMBER_TYPE;
+    }
+
+    if (length(MEMBER_NAME) > 0) {
+	VAR_SUFFIX = "." MEMBER_NAME;
+    } else {
+	VAR_SUFFIX = ""
+    }
+
+    printf("%s *const %s[] = {\n", TYPE_NAME, ARRAY_NAME)
+    for (v in VAR_LIST) {
+	printf("\t&%s%s,\n", VAR_LIST[v], VAR_SUFFIX)
+    }
+    printf("\tNULL\n");
+
+    printf("};\n");
+}
+' < ${CONFIG_FILE} || usage
 
-printf "%s *const %s[] = {\n" "${MEMBER_TYPE:-${TYPE_NAME}}" "${ARRAY_NAME}"
-for VAR in ${VAR_LIST}; do
-	printf "\t&%s,\n" "${VAR}${MEMBER_NAME:+.}${MEMBER_NAME}"
-done
-	printf "\tNULL\n"
-printf "};\n"