Index: trunk/Ohana/src/opihi/cmd.data/book_commands.c
===================================================================
--- trunk/Ohana/src/opihi/cmd.data/book_commands.c	(revision 11290)
+++ trunk/Ohana/src/opihi/cmd.data/book_commands.c	(revision 11324)
@@ -363,4 +363,10 @@
   }
 
+  Optional = FALSE;
+  if ((N = get_argument (argc, argv, "-optional"))) {
+    remove_argument (N, &argc, argv);
+    Optional = TRUE;
+  }
+
   if (argc != 4) {
     gprint (GP_ERR, "USAGE: book newword (book) (page) (word)\n");
@@ -385,4 +391,8 @@
   value = BookGetWord (page, argv[3]);
   if (value == NULL) {
+    if (Optional) {
+      FREE (varName);
+      return TRUE;
+    }
     gprint (GP_ERR, "value %s on page %s in book %s not found\n", argv[3], argv[2], argv[1]);
     FREE (varName);