diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index fb40dd2..89f84f5 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -2,81 +2,89 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <string>
 #include <stdexcept>
+#include <climits>
+#include <regex>
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <libscnumerics.hpp>
 
-void print_help() {
-    std::cout << "usage: pw [-h|--version] [-c <len>] [-d] [-l] [-u] [-s]\n";
-    std::cout << "  -h, --help         show this help text and exit\n";
-    std::cout << "  --version          show version number and exit\n";
-    std::cout << "  -c, --count <num>  password length; default is 24 characters\n";
-    std::cout << "  -d, --digit        allow digits\n";
-    std::cout << "  -l, --lower        allow lower case letters\n";
-    std::cout << "  -u, --upper        allow upper case letters\n";
-    std::cout << "  -s, --symbol       allow symbols and punctuation\n";
-    std::cout << "  -S, --special      allow symbols from specified argument\n";
-    std::cout << "When none of -d, -l, -u, and -s are given, pw acts as if all had been specified.\n";
-}
+// globals
+std::string upper {"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"};
+std::string lower {"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"};
+std::string digits {"0123456789"};
+std::string symbols {"_-=+<>,.!@#$%^&*"};
+std::string special;
+std::string valid;
+int len {24};
+int min_upper {0};
+int min_lower {0};
+int min_digits {0};
+int min_symbols {0};
+int min_special {0};
 
-void print_version() {
-    std::cout << "pw version 1.0\n";
+void validate_range(const std::string& arg, int& min_val, int& max_val) {
+    std::regex pat {R"((\d+)(?:-(\d+))?)"};
+    std::smatch match;
+    if (std::regex_match(arg, match, pat)) {
+        min_val = std::atoi(match[1].str().c_str());
+        if (match.size() > 2) {
+            max_val = std::atoi(match[2].str().c_str());
+        }
+    }
+    throw std::runtime_error("invalid range");
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     try {
-        std::string upper {"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"};
-        std::string lower {"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"};
-        std::string digits {"0123456789"};
-        std::string symbols {"_-=+<>,.!@#$%^&*"};
-        std::string valid;
-        int len {24};
         bool noflags {true};
         int opt_char, opt_val;
         struct option long_options[] = {
-            {"help", no_argument, nullptr, 'h'},
             {"version", no_argument, &opt_val, 1},
-            {"upper", no_argument, nullptr, 'u'},
-            {"lower", no_argument, nullptr, 'l'},
-            {"digit", no_argument, nullptr, 'd'},
-            {"symbol", no_argument, nullptr, 's'},
-            {"special", required_argument, nullptr, 'S'},
             {"count", required_argument, nullptr, 'c'},
+            {"digit", required_argument, nullptr, 'd'},
+            {"lower", required_argument, nullptr, 'l'},
+            {"symbol", required_argument, nullptr, 's'},
+            {"special", required_argument, nullptr, 'S'},
+            {"upper", required_argument, nullptr, 'u'},
             {nullptr, 0, nullptr, 0}
         };
-        while ((opt_char = getopt_long(argc, argv, "c:huldsS:", long_options, nullptr)) != -1) {
+        while ((opt_char = getopt_long(argc, argv, "c:u:l:d:s:S:", long_options, nullptr)) != -1) {
             std::string arg {optarg ? optarg : ""};
             switch (opt_char) {
                 case 0: {
                     // handle long-only options here
                     switch (opt_val) {
                         case 1:
-                            print_version();
+                            std::cout << "pw version 2.0, © 2022 Bob Polis. All rights reserved.\n";
                             return EXIT_SUCCESS;
                     }
                     break;
                 }
-                case 'h':
-                    print_help();
-                    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
                 case 'u':
-                    noflags = false;
                     valid += upper;
+                    min_upper = std::atoi(optarg);
+                    noflags = false;
                     break;
                 case 'l':
-                    noflags = false;
                     valid += lower;
+                    min_lower = std::atoi(optarg);
+                    noflags = false;
                     break;
                 case 'd':
-                    noflags = false;
                     valid += digits;
+                    min_digits = std::atoi(optarg);
+                    noflags = false;
                     break;
                 case 's':
-                    noflags = false;
                     valid += symbols;
+                    min_symbols = std::atoi(optarg);
+                    noflags = false;
                     break;
                 case 'S':
-                    noflags = false;
+                    special = arg;
                     valid += arg;
+                    min_special = 1;
+                    noflags = false;
                     break;
                 case 'c':
                     len = std::stoi(optarg);
@@ -85,23 +93,34 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
                     throw std::runtime_error("unrecognized option");
             }
         }
-        if (optind == argc) {
-            // here when no file args
-            if (noflags) {
-                valid = upper + lower + digits + symbols;
-            }
-            for (int i = 0; i < len; ++i) {
-                std::cout << sc::random::choice<char>(valid.begin(), valid.end());
-            }
-            std::cout << std::endl;
+        if (noflags) {
+            valid = upper + lower + digits + symbols;
         }
-        for (int i = optind; i < argc; ++i) {
-            try {
-                // process file argv[i]
-            } catch (const std::runtime_error& ex) {
-                std::cerr << "pw: " << ex.what() << '\n';
-            }
+        int num_free_choice = len - min_digits - min_lower - min_upper - min_symbols;
+        if (num_free_choice < 0) {
+            throw std::runtime_error("total minimum required exceeds password length");
         }
+        std::string password;
+        for (int i = 0; i < min_digits; ++i) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(digits.begin(), digits.end());
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < min_lower; ++i) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(lower.begin(), lower.end());
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < min_upper; ++i) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(upper.begin(), upper.end());
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < min_symbols; ++i) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(symbols.begin(), symbols.end());
+        }
+        if (min_special) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(special.begin(), special.end());
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < num_free_choice; ++i) {
+            password += sc::random::choice<char>(valid.begin(), valid.end());
+        }
+        std::shuffle(password.begin(), password.end(), sc::random::instance().engine());
+        std::cout << password << std::endl;
     } catch (const std::exception& ex) {
         std::cerr << "pw: " << ex.what() << '\n';
         return EXIT_FAILURE;