diff --git a/bin/remote_update.sh b/bin/remote_update.sh
index 4615e9a..3118191 100755
--- a/bin/remote_update.sh
+++ b/bin/remote_update.sh
@@ -1,32 +1,68 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+#
+# script to checkout the latest tagged build from cvs and upload
+# to the remote server of your choice
 
+## functions
+
+# displays the script usage message 
+#
+usage() {
+    echo "usage: `basename $0` -t cvstag -h user@host -d remoteDir"
+    echo "       eg. `basename $0` -t DMS_ITERATION1_29012003 -h michael@gobbler.jamwarehouse.com -d /usr/local/www/owl/dms"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+deploy() {
+    # cleanup
+    rm -rf $tmp* 2> /dev/null
+    mkdir $tmp
+
+    # export owl
+    cd $tmp
+    #cvs -d $cvsroot co -r $tag owl
+    cvs -d $cvsroot co owl
+    cd owl/Documents
+    cvs update -d
+    # remove CVS directories
+    find $tmp -name CVS -exec rm -rf {} \; 2> /dev/null
+
+    # tar it up
+    tar -czvf /tmp/owl.tgz $tmp
+    # punt it over the wall
+    scp /tmp/owl.tgz $host:/tmp/
+
+    # untar it remotely
+    ssh $host "cd $remotePath; mv $remoteDir $remoteDir-`date +%Y-%m-%d`; tar -zxvf /tmp/owl.tgz; rm /tmp/owl.tgz; mv tmp/dms/owl $remoteDir; rm -rf tmp"
+}
+
+# check the command line options
+if [ $# -lt 3 ]; then
+    usage
+fi
+
+# process the params
+while getopts ":t:h:d:" Option
+do
+  case $Option in
+    t   ) tag=$OPTARG;;
+    h   ) host=$OPTARG;;
+    d   ) dir=$OPTARG ;;
+    *   ) usage;;
+  esac
+done
+
+# check that everything we want is set
+if [ -z $tag -o -z $host -o -z $dir ]; then
+    usage
+fi 
+
+# setup up some paths and stuff
 cvsroot=/usr/local/cvsroot
 tmp=/tmp/dms
-tag=DMS_ITERATION1_29012003
-scpUser=michael
-remote=gobbler.jamwarehouse.com
-remotePath=/usr/local/www/owl
-remoteDir=dms
-
-# cleanup
-rm -rf $tmp* 2> /dev/null
-mkdir $tmp
-
-# export owl
-cd $tmp
-#cvs -d $cvsroot co -r $tag owl
-cvs -d $cvsroot co owl
-cd owl/Documents
-cvs update -d
-
-# remove CVS directories
-find $tmp -name CVS -exec rm -rf {} \; 2> /dev/null
-
-# tar it up
-tar -czvf /tmp/owl.tgz $tmp
-
-# punt it over the wall
-scp /tmp/owl.tgz $scpUser@$remote:$remotePath
-
-# untar it remotely
-ssh $scpUser@$remote "cd $remotePath; mv $remoteDir $remoteDir-`date +%Y-%m-%d`; tar -zxvf owl.tgz; rm owl.tgz; mv tmp/dms/owl $remoteDir; rm -rf tmp"
+remotePath=`dirname $dir`
+remoteDir=`basename $dir`
+
+# now just do it
+# TODO: return code handling
+deploy