Backtick with a variable?

This one has also eluded what I've tried so far. I wanted to get the output of a command on a file passed into the function. Normally, I'd use the backtick, but the syntax with a variable filename has thus far eluded me: I'm passing in a file $filename, how do I manage to get what I need? $temp = zcat -i $filename; -- _Deirdre * http://www.sfknit.org * http://www.deirdre.net "We can always count on the British. Except for the Revolutionary War they've been perfect." -- Mel Brooks, on the first Concorde flight since the Paris crash.