diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
index a3cf78308..3620cc7b9 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
@@ -907,43 +907,52 @@ static void dbBreakBody(void)
     pgphentry->userPvt = pnewbrkTable;
 }
 
-static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType,char *name, int visible)
+static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType, char *name, int visible)
 {
-    DBENTRY		*pdbentry;
-    long		status;
+    char *badch;
+    DBENTRY *pdbentry;
+    long status;
 
+    badch = strpbrk(name, " \"'.$");
+    if (badch) {
+        epicsPrintf("Bad character '%c' in record name \"%s\"\n",
+            *badch, name);
+    }
     pdbentry = dbAllocEntry(pdbbase);
-    if(ellCount(&tempList))
-	yyerrorAbort("dbRecordHead: tempList not empty");
+    if (ellCount(&tempList))
+        yyerrorAbort("dbRecordHead: tempList not empty");
     allocTemp(pdbentry);
-    status = dbFindRecordType(pdbentry,recordType);
-    if(status) {
-	epicsPrintf("Record \"%s\" is of unknown type \"%s\" - ",
+    status = dbFindRecordType(pdbentry, recordType);
+    if (status) {
+        epicsPrintf("Record \"%s\" is of unknown type \"%s\" - ",
                     name, recordType);
-	yyerrorAbort(NULL);
-	return;
+        yyerrorAbort(NULL);
+        return;
     }
     /*Duplicate records ok if the same type */
     status = dbCreateRecord(pdbentry,name);
-    if(status==S_dbLib_recExists) {
-	if(strcmp(recordType,dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry))!=0) {
-	    epicsPrintf("Record %s already defined with different type %s\n",
-                        name, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry));
+    if (status==S_dbLib_recExists) {
+        if (strcmp(recordType, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry))!=0) {
+            epicsPrintf("Record \"%s\" already defined with different type "
+                "\"%s\"\n", name, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry));
             yyerror(NULL);
-	    duplicate = TRUE;
-	    return;
-	} else if (dbRecordsOnceOnly) {
-	    epicsPrintf("Record \"%s\" already defined (dbRecordsOnceOnly is set)\n",
-                        name);
-	    yyerror(NULL);
-	    duplicate = TRUE;
-	}
-    } else if(status) {
-	epicsPrintf("Can't create record \"%s\" of type \"%s\"\n",
-                     name, recordType);
-	yyerrorAbort(NULL);
+            duplicate = TRUE;
+            return;
+        }
+        else if (dbRecordsOnceOnly) {
+            epicsPrintf("Record \"%s\" already defined (dbRecordsOnceOnly is "
+                "set)\n", name);
+            yyerror(NULL);
+            duplicate = TRUE;
+        }
     }
-    if(visible) dbVisibleRecord(pdbentry);
+    else if (status) {
+        epicsPrintf("Can't create record \"%s\" of type \"%s\"\n",
+                     name, recordType);
+        yyerrorAbort(NULL);
+    }
+    if (visible)
+        dbVisibleRecord(pdbentry);
 }
 
 static void dbRecordField(char *name,char *value)
diff --git a/src/makeBaseApp/makeBaseApp.pl b/src/makeBaseApp/makeBaseApp.pl
index f60ec3e5d..7a816a0eb 100755
--- a/src/makeBaseApp/makeBaseApp.pl
+++ b/src/makeBaseApp/makeBaseApp.pl
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ $app_top  = cwd();
 
 $bad_ident_chars = '[^0-9A-Za-z_]';
 
-&GetUser;		# Ensure we know who's in charge
 &readReleaseFiles("configure/RELEASE", \%release, \@apps);
 &expandRelease(\%release);
 &get_commandline_opts;	# Check command-line options
+&GetUser;		# Ensure we know who's in charge
 
 #
 # Declare two default callback routines for file copy plus two
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ exit 0;				# END OF SCRIPT
 # Get commandline options and check for validity
 #
 sub get_commandline_opts { #no args
-    getopts("a:b:dhilp:T:t:") or Cleanup(1);
+    getopts("a:b:dhilp:T:t:u:") or Cleanup(1);
     
     # Options help
     Cleanup(0) if $opt_h;
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ EOF
  -d       Enable debug messages
  -i       Specifies that ioc boot directories will be generated
  -l       List valid application types for this installation
-	  If this is specified the other options are not used
+          If this is specified the other options are not used
  -p app   Set the application name for use with -i
           If not specified, you will be prompted
  -T top   Set the template top directory (where the application templates are)
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ EOF
  -t type  Set the application type (-l for a list of valid types)
           If not specified, type is taken from environment
           If not found in environment, \"default\" is used
+ -u user  Set username; overrides OS defaults
 
 Environment:
 EPICS_MBA_DEF_APP_TYPE  Application type you want to use as default
@@ -419,10 +420,7 @@ EOF
 }
 
 sub GetUser {
-    # add to this list if new possibilities arise,
-    # currently it's UNIX and WIN32:
-    $user = $ENV{USER} || $ENV{USERNAME} || Win32::LoginName();
-    $user =~ s/\s+//g;   # Bl**dy Windows stupidity...
+    $user = $opt_u || $ENV{USER} || $ENV{USERNAME} || Win32::LoginName();
 
     unless ($user) {
 	print "Strange, I cannot figure out your user name!\n";
@@ -430,5 +428,6 @@ sub GetUser {
 	$user = <STDIN>;
 	chomp $user;
     }
+    $user =~ tr/-a-zA-Z0-9_:;[]<>//cd;  # Sanitize; these are the legal chars
     die "No user name" unless $user;
 }