diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18faee1..9ea36a5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,5 +4,28 @@
 
 **Bash-Lib** is a library of common [bash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_%28Unix_shell%29) routines used in projects based on the [a-bash-template (BaT)](https://github.com/richbl/a-bash-template) project. This library is broken into two files:
 
- - `General`: Routines created to check program and file dependencies, banner display, *etc*.
- - `Args`: Routines created to manage command-line argument parsing
+- `general`: Routines created to:
+  - Check program dependencies
+  - Check file dependencies
+  - Format and display a program banner, e.g.,
+>>
+    |
+    | A bash template (BaT) to ease argument parsing and management
+    |   0.2.0
+    |
+    | Usage:
+    |   bash_template.sh -a alpha -b bravo [-c charlie] -d delta
+    |
+    |   -a, --alpha    alpha (something descriptive)
+    |   -b, --bravo    bravo (something descriptive)
+    |   -c, --charlie  charlie (this is optional)
+    |   -d, --delta    delta (something descriptive)
+    |
+
+- `args`: Routines created to:
+  - Parse a JSON file for program configuration details
+  - Scan command-line arguments for accuracy and completeness
+
+For details on how the various routines of this library project are used, see the [A-Bash-Template (BaT)](https://github.com/richbl/a-bash-template#a-bash-template) project.
+
+> Note that this project is managed as a Git [submodule](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules) project specifically to keep projects that use this library up-to-date without manual intervention.
diff --git a/args b/args
index d1bc73d..aad0d1b 100644
--- a/args
+++ b/args
@@ -4,26 +4,22 @@ PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Copyright (C) Business Learning Incorporated (businesslearninginc.com)
 #
-# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-# (at your option) any later version.
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+# Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+# version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+# ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License at 
+# <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/> for more details.
 #
-# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-# GNU General Public License at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/> for
-# more details.
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
 # bash library for command line argument loading/parsing/validating
 #
 
-EXEC_DIR="$(dirname "$0")"
-# shellcheck source=bash-lib/general
-source "${EXEC_DIR}/bash-lib/general"
-
-ARGS_FILE="${EXEC_DIR}/data/config.json"
+readonly ARGS_FILE="data/config.json"
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # query data/config.json, returning the details object
@@ -40,7 +36,7 @@ function get_config_arg {
 }
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# query data/config.json, returning the arguments object length
+# query data/config.json, returning the count of arguments
 #
 function get_config_args_length {
   printf "%s" "$(jq -r '.arguments|length' < "${ARGS_FILE}")"
@@ -51,20 +47,18 @@ function get_config_args_length {
 #
 function get_config_arg_value {
 
-  local COUNT_ARGS=0
-  COUNT_ARGS=$(get_config_args_length)
+  local count_config_args=0
+  count_config_args=$(get_config_args_length)
 
-  for ((j=0;j<COUNT_ARGS;j++)) do
+  for ((j=0;j<count_config_args;j++)) do
 
-    local ARG_OPTIONS=""
-    ARG_OPTIONS=$(get_config_arg $j text_string)
+    local arg_options=""
+    arg_options=$(get_config_arg "$j" text_string)
 
-    case $1 in
-      $ARG_OPTIONS)
-        echo "${ARG_VALUE[$j]}"
-        return
-        ;;
-    esac
+    if echo "$1" | grep -Eq "$arg_options"; then
+      echo "${ARG_VALUE[$j]}"
+      return
+    fi
 
   done
 
@@ -77,25 +71,24 @@ function scan_for_args {
 
   while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]
   do
-    local COUNT_ARGS=0
-    COUNT_ARGS=$(get_config_args_length)
-
-    for ((j=0;j<COUNT_ARGS;j++)) do
-      local ARG_OPTIONS=""
-      ARG_OPTIONS='+('$(get_config_arg $j short_form)'|'$(get_config_arg $j long_form)')'
-
-      case $1 in
-        $ARG_OPTIONS)
-          ARG_VALUE[${j}]="$2"
-          shift # skip argument
-          ;;
-        *)
-          ;;
-      esac
+
+    local count_config_args=0
+    count_config_args=$(get_config_args_length)
+
+    for ((j=0;j<count_config_args;j++)) do
+
+      local arg_options=""
+      arg_options='('$(get_config_arg "$j" short_form)'|'$(get_config_arg "$j" long_form)')'
+
+      if echo "$1" | grep -Eq "$arg_options"; then
+        ARG_VALUE[${j}]="$2"
+        shift # skip to next argument
+        break
+      fi
 
     done
 
-    shift # skip argument
+    shift # skip to next argument
   done
 
 }
@@ -105,21 +98,21 @@ function scan_for_args {
 #
 function check_for_args_completeness {
 
-  local COUNT_ERRS=0
-  local COUNT_ARGS=0
-  COUNT_ARGS=$(get_config_args_length)
+  local count_errs=0
+  local count_config_args=0
+  count_config_args=$(get_config_args_length)
 
-  for ((j=0;j<COUNT_ARGS;j++)) do
+  for ((j=0;j<count_config_args;j++)) do
 
-    if [ -z "${ARG_VALUE[${j}]}" ] && [ "$(get_config_arg $j required)" == "true" ]; then
-      printf "%s\n" "Error: $(get_config_arg $j text_string) argument ($(get_config_arg $j short_form)|$(get_config_arg $j long_form)) missing."
-      ((COUNT_ERRS++))
+    if [ -z "${ARG_VALUE[${j}]}" ] && [ "$(get_config_arg "$j" required)" == "true" ]; then
+      printf "%s\n" "Error: $(get_config_arg "$j" text_string) argument ($(get_config_arg "$j" short_form)|$(get_config_arg "$j" long_form)) missing."
+      ((count_errs++))
     fi
 
   done
 
-  if [ ${COUNT_ERRS} -gt 0 ]; then
+  if [ "${count_errs}" -gt 0 ]; then
     quit 1
   fi
 
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/general b/general
index 50221ce..a966f24 100644
--- a/general
+++ b/general
@@ -4,16 +4,16 @@ PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Copyright (C) Business Learning Incorporated (businesslearninginc.com)
 #
-# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-# (at your option) any later version.
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+# Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+# version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+# ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License at 
+# <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/> for more details.
 #
-# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-# GNU General Public License at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/> for
-# more details.
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
 # bash library for general-purpose script processing
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 #
 function check_program_dependencies {
 
-  local -a DEPS=("$@")
+  local -a deps=("$@")
 
-  for i in "${DEPS[@]}"; do
+  for i in "${deps[@]}"; do
 
-    if ! type "$i" &>/dev/null; then
+    if ! command -v "$i" &>/dev/null; then
       printf "\n%s\n" "Error: program $i not installed."
       quit 1
     fi
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ function check_program_dependencies {
 #
 function check_file_dependencies {
 
-  local -a DEPS=("$@")
+  local -a deps=("$@")
 
-  for i in "${DEPS[@]}"; do
+  for i in "${deps[@]}"; do
 
     if [ ! -f "$i" ]; then
       printf "\n%s\n" "Error: file $i not found."
@@ -69,20 +69,20 @@ function display_banner {
   printf "%s\n" " |    $(get_config_details syntax)"
   printf "%s\n" " |"
 
-  local MAX_COL=0
-  local COUNT_ARGS=0
-  COUNT_ARGS=$(get_config_args_length)
+  local max_col=0
+  local count_args=0
+  count_args=$(get_config_args_length)
 
   # determine maximum column width for setting output columns
   #
-  for ((j=0;j<COUNT_ARGS;j++)) do
-    ARG_LEN=$(get_config_arg $j short_form)+$(get_config_arg $j long_form)
-    ((${#ARG_LEN} > MAX_COL)) && MAX_COL=${#ARG_LEN}
-    ((j == COUNT_ARGS-1 )) && ((MAX_COL+=6))
+  for ((j=0;j<count_args;j++)) do
+    arg_len=$(get_config_arg "$j" short_form)+$(get_config_arg "$j" long_form)
+    ((${#arg_len} > max_col)) && max_col=${#arg_len}
+    ((j == count_args-1 )) && ((max_col+=6))
   done
 
-  for ((j=0;j<COUNT_ARGS;j++)) do
-    printf "%-${MAX_COL}s %s\n" " |  $(get_config_arg $j short_form), $(get_config_arg $j long_form)" "$(get_config_arg $j description)"
+  for ((j=0;j<count_args;j++)) do
+    printf "%-${max_col}s %s\n" " |  $(get_config_arg "$j" short_form), $(get_config_arg "$j" long_form)" "$(get_config_arg "$j" description)"
   done
 
   printf "%s\n\n" " |"
@@ -90,14 +90,14 @@ function display_banner {
 }
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# exit wrapper
+# exit program (with exit status passed in)
 #
 function quit {
 
-  local RES=""
-  RES=("${1}")
+  local result=""
+  result=("${1}")
 
   printf "\n"
-  exit "${RES[0]}"
+  exit "${result[0]}"
 
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file