From: gbacon@... (Greg Bacon) Date: 2008-01-30T02:14:57+09:00 Subject: Re: regular expression negate a word (not character) In article , Dr.Ruud wrote: : I negated the test, to make the regex simpler: [...] Yes, your approach is simpler. I assumed from the "need it all in one pattern" constraint that the OP is feeding the regular expression to some other program that is looking for matches. I dunno. Maybe it was the familiar compulsion with Perl to attempt to cram everything into a single pattern. Greg -- What light is to the eyes -- what air is to the lungs -- what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man. -- Robert Green Ingersoll