diff --git a/cc.c b/cc.c
index 8aacd04..59fa46d 100644
--- a/cc.c
+++ b/cc.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv, char** envp)
 	PREPROCESSOR_MODE = FALSE;
 	STDIO_USED = FALSE;
 	DIRTY_MODE = FALSE;
+	Architecture = NULL;
 
 	/* Our fun locals */
 	int debug_flag = TRUE;
@@ -108,6 +109,13 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv, char** envp)
 			fputc('\n', stderr);
 			i+= 2;
 		}
+		else if(match(argv[i], "-A") || match(argv[i], "--architecture"))
+		{
+			hold = argv[i+1];
+			require(NULL != hold, "--architecture needs to be passed an architecture\n");
+			Architecture = hold;
+			i += 2;
+		}
 		else if(match(argv[i], "-f") || match(argv[i], "--file"))
 		{
 			if(NULL == hold_string)
@@ -138,6 +146,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv, char** envp)
 		else if(match(argv[i], "-o") || match(argv[i], "--output"))
 		{
 			destination_name = argv[i + 1];
+			require(NULL != destination_name, "--output option requires a filename to follow\n");
 			destination_file = fopen(destination_name, "w");
 			if(NULL == destination_file)
 			{
diff --git a/cc_env.c b/cc_env.c
index b4f118c..a5ba351 100644
--- a/cc_env.c
+++ b/cc_env.c
@@ -21,41 +21,57 @@
 
 void init_macro_env(char* sym, char* value, char* source, int num);
 char* env_lookup(char* variable);
+void clear_string(char* s);
 
 void setup_env()
 {
 	if(2 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Starting setup_env\n", stderr);
-	char* ARCH = NULL;
-	struct utsname* unameData = calloc(1, sizeof(struct utsname));
-	require(NULL != unameData, "unameData calloc failed\n");
-	uname(unameData);
-	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("obtained architecture details\n", stderr);
-	if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+	char* ARCH;
+	if(NULL != Architecture)
 	{
-		fputs("utsname details: ", stderr);
-		fputs(unameData->machine, stderr);
-		fputc('\n', stderr);
+		ARCH = Architecture;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		ARCH = NULL;
+		struct utsname* unameData = calloc(1, sizeof(struct utsname));
+		require(NULL != unameData, "unameData calloc failed\n");
+		uname(unameData);
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+		{
+			fputs("utsname details: ", stderr);
+			fputs(unameData->machine, stderr);
+			fputc('\n', stderr);
+		}
+
+		if(match("i386", unameData->machine) ||
+		   match("i486", unameData->machine) ||
+		   match("i586", unameData->machine) ||
+		   match("i686", unameData->machine) ||
+		   match("i686-pae", unameData->machine)) ARCH = "x86";
+		else if(match("x86_64", unameData->machine)) ARCH = "amd64";
+		else ARCH = unameData->machine;
+		if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+		{
+			fputs("Architecture selected: ", stderr);
+			fputs(ARCH, stderr);
+			fputc('\n', stderr);
+		}
+
+		/* Check for override */
+		char* hold = env_lookup("ARCHITECTURE_OVERRIDE");
+		if(NULL != hold)
+		{
+			ARCH = hold;
+			if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+			{
+				fputs("environmental override for ARCH: ", stderr);
+				fputs(ARCH, stderr);
+				fputc('\n', stderr);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
-	if(match("i386", unameData->machine) ||
-	   match("i486", unameData->machine) ||
-	   match("i586", unameData->machine) ||
-	   match("i686", unameData->machine) ||
-	   match("i686-pae", unameData->machine)) ARCH = "x86";
-	else if(match("x86_64", unameData->machine)) ARCH = "amd64";
-	else ARCH = unameData->machine;
-	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
-	{
-		fputs("Architecture selected: ", stderr);
-		fputs(ARCH, stderr);
-		fputc('\n', stderr);
-	}
-
-
-	/* Check for override */
-	char* hold = env_lookup("ARCHITECTURE_OVERRIDE");
-	if(NULL != hold) ARCH = hold;
-	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("override?\n", stderr);
 
 	/* Set desired architecture */
 	WORDSIZE = 32;
@@ -63,22 +79,26 @@ void setup_env()
 	BASEADDRESS = "0x0";
 	if(match("knight-native", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using knight-native architecture\n", stderr);
 		ENDIAN = TRUE;
 		Architecture = "knight-native";
 	}
 	else if(match("knight-posix", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using knight-posix architecture\n", stderr);
 		ENDIAN = TRUE;
 		Architecture = "knight-posix";
 	}
 	else if(match("x86", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using x86 architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x8048000";
 		Architecture = "x86";
 		init_macro_env("__i386__", "1", "--architecture", 0);
 	}
 	else if(match("amd64", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using amd64 architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x00600000";
 		Architecture = "amd64";
 		WORDSIZE = 64;
@@ -86,12 +106,14 @@ void setup_env()
 	}
 	else if(match("armv7l", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using armv7l architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x10000";
 		Architecture = "armv7l";
 		init_macro_env("__arm__", "1", "--architecture", 0);
 	}
 	else if(match("aarch64", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using aarch64 architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x400000";
 		Architecture = "aarch64";
 		WORDSIZE = 64;
@@ -99,14 +121,15 @@ void setup_env()
 	}
 	else if(match("riscv32", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using riscv32 architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x600000";
 		Architecture = "riscv32";
-		WORDSIZE = 64;
 		init_macro_env("__riscv", "1", "--architecture", 0);
 		init_macro_env("__riscv_xlen", "32", "--architecture", 1);
 	}
 	else if(match("riscv64", ARCH))
 	{
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("Using riscv64 architecture\n", stderr);
 		BASEADDRESS = "0x600000";
 		Architecture = "riscv64";
 		WORDSIZE = 64;
@@ -159,14 +182,26 @@ int array_length(char** array)
 /* Search for a variable in the token linked-list */
 char* token_lookup(char* variable, struct Token* token)
 {
+	if(6 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+	{
+		fputs("in token_lookup\nLooking for: ", stderr);
+		fputs(variable, stderr);
+		fputc('\n', stderr);
+	}
 	/* Start at the head */
 	struct Token* n = token;
 
 	/* Loop over the linked-list */
 	while(n != NULL)
 	{
+		if(15 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
+		{
+			fputs(n->var, stderr);
+			fputc('\n', stderr);
+		}
 		if(match(variable, n->var))
 		{
+			if(6 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("match found in token_lookup\n", stderr);
 			/* We have found the correct node */
 			return n->value; /* Done */
 		}
@@ -185,6 +220,67 @@ char* env_lookup(char* variable)
 	return token_lookup(variable, env);
 }
 
+char* envp_hold;
+int envp_index;
+
+void reset_envp_hold()
+{
+	clear_string(envp_hold);
+	envp_index = 0;
+}
+
+void push_env_byte(int c)
+{
+	envp_hold[envp_index] = c;
+	envp_index = envp_index + 1;
+	require(4096 > envp_index, "Token exceeded 4096 char envp limit\n");
+}
+
+struct Token* process_env_variable(char* envp_line, struct Token* n)
+{
+	struct Token* node = calloc(1, sizeof(struct Token));
+	require(node != NULL, "Memory initialization of node failed\n");
+	reset_envp_hold();
+	int i = 0;
+
+	while(envp_line[i] != '=')
+	{
+		/* Copy over everything up to = to var */
+		push_env_byte(envp_line[i]);
+		i = i + 1;
+	}
+
+	node->var = calloc(i + 2, sizeof(char));
+	require(node->var != NULL, "Memory initialization of n->var in population of env failed\n");
+	strcpy(node->var, envp_hold);
+
+	i = i + 1; /* Skip over = */
+
+	reset_envp_hold();
+	while(envp_line[i] != 0)
+	{
+		/* Copy everything else to value */
+		push_env_byte(envp_line[i]);
+		i = i + 1;
+	}
+
+	/* Sometimes, we get lines like VAR=, indicating nothing is in the variable */
+	if(0 == strlen(envp_hold))
+	{
+		node->value = "";
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		/* but looks like we got something so, lets use it */
+		node->value = calloc(strlen(envp_hold) + 2, sizeof(char));
+		require(node->value != NULL, "Memory initialization of n->var in population of env failed\n");
+		strcpy(node->value, envp_hold);
+	}
+
+	node->next = n;
+	return node;
+}
+
 void populate_env(char** envp)
 {
 	if(2 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("populate_env started\n", stderr);
@@ -205,82 +301,51 @@ void populate_env(char** envp)
 	}
 
 	/* Initialize env and n */
-	env = calloc(1, sizeof(struct Token));
-	require(env != NULL, "Memory initialization of env failed\n");
-	struct Token* n;
-	n = env;
+	env = NULL;
 	int i;
-	int j;
-	int k;
-	char* envp_line;
+	envp_hold = calloc(4096, sizeof(char));
+	require(envp_hold != NULL, "Memory initialization of envp_hold in population of env failed\n");
+	char* envp_line = calloc(4096, sizeof(char));
+	require(envp_line != NULL, "Memory initialization of envp_line in population of env failed\n");
 
 	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("starting env loop\n", stderr);
 	for(i = 0; i < max; i = i + 1)
 	{
-		n->var = calloc(MAX_STRING, sizeof(char));
-		require(n->var != NULL, "Memory initialization of n->var in population of env failed\n");
-		n->value = calloc(MAX_STRING, sizeof(char));
-		require(n->value != NULL, "Memory initialization of n->var in population of env failed\n");
-		j = 0;
 		/*
 		 * envp is weird.
 		 * When referencing envp[i]'s characters directly, they were all jumbled.
 		 * So just copy envp[i] to envp_line, and work with that - that seems
 		 * to fix it.
 		 */
-		envp_line = calloc(MAX_STRING, sizeof(char));
-		require(envp_line != NULL, "Memory initialization of envp_line in population of env failed\n");
+		clear_string(envp_line);
+		require(4096 > strlen(envp[i]), "envp line exceeds 4096byte limit\n");
 		strcpy(envp_line, envp[i]);
 
-		while(envp_line[j] != '=')
+		if(4 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
 		{
-			/* Copy over everything up to = to var */
-			n->var[j] = envp_line[j];
-			j = j + 1;
+			fputs("trying envp_line: ", stderr);
+			fputs(envp_line, stderr);
+			fputc('\n', stderr);
 		}
 
-		/* If we get strange input, we need to ignore it */
-		if(n->var == NULL)
+		env = process_env_variable(envp_line, env);
+
+		if(8 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
 		{
-			continue;
+			fputs("got var of: ", stderr);
+			fputs(env->var, stderr);
+			fputs("\nAnd value of: ", stderr);
+			fputs(env->value, stderr);
+			fputc('\n', stderr);
 		}
-
-		j = j + 1; /* Skip over = */
-		k = 0; /* As envp[i] will continue as j but n->value begins at 0 */
-
-		while(envp_line[j] != 0)
-		{
-			/* Copy everything else to value */
-			n->value[k] = envp_line[j];
-			j = j + 1;
-			k = k + 1;
-		}
-
-		/* Sometimes, we get lines like VAR=, indicating nothing is in the variable */
-		if(n->value == NULL)
-		{
-			n->value = "";
-		}
-
-		/* Advance to next part of linked list */
-		n->next = calloc(1, sizeof(struct Token));
-		require(n->next != NULL, "Memory initialization of n->next in population of env failed\n");
-		n = n->next;
 	}
-	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("env loop successful\n", stderr);
-
-	/* Get rid of node on the end */
-	n = NULL;
-	/* Also destroy the n->next reference */
-	n = env;
-
-	require(NULL != n, "can't have an empty environment from the creation of a non-null environment\n");
-	require(NULL != n->next, "should have an extra node at the end of the env\n");
-	while(n->next->var != NULL)
+	if(3 <= DEBUG_LEVEL)
 	{
-		n = n->next;
+		fputs("\n\nenv loop successful\n", stderr);
+		fputs(int2str(i, 10, FALSE), stderr);
+		fputs(" envp records processed\n\n", stderr);
 	}
 
-	n->next = NULL;
+	require(NULL != env, "can't have an empty environment from the creation of a non-null environment\n");
 	if(2 <= DEBUG_LEVEL) fputs("populate_env successful\n", stderr);
 }
diff --git a/cc_reader.c b/cc_reader.c
index 7715b25..3460b8d 100644
--- a/cc_reader.c
+++ b/cc_reader.c
@@ -59,11 +59,16 @@ int grab_byte()
 	return c;
 }
 
-int consume_byte(int c)
+void push_byte(int c)
 {
 	hold_string[string_index] = c;
 	string_index = string_index + 1;
 	require(MAX_STRING > string_index, "Token exceeded MAX_STRING char limit\nuse --max-string number to increase\n");
+}
+
+int consume_byte(int c)
+{
+	push_byte(c);
 	return grab_byte();
 }
 
@@ -104,17 +109,24 @@ int preserve_keyword(int c, char* S)
 	return c;
 }
 
+void clear_string(char* s)
+{
+	int i = 0;
+	while(0 != s[i])
+	{
+		s[i] = 0;
+		i = i + 1;
+		require(i < MAX_STRING, "string exceeded max string size while clearing string\n");
+	}
+}
+
 void reset_hold_string()
 {
-	int i = MAX_STRING;
-	while(0 <= i)
-	{
-		hold_string[i] = 0;
-		i = i - 1;
-	}
+	clear_string(hold_string);
 	string_index = 0;
 }
 
+
 /* note if this is the first token in the list, head needs fixing up */
 struct token_list* eat_token(struct token_list* token)
 {