Steve, thanks for your reply. Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I've been away from the list for a couple weeks. I just tried the link myself and it worked; I must've mistyped the address in my browser the first time. Sorry 'bout that! :^) ------------------------------------------ In the style manual I can only find the URL http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html which is still valid and correct. Have I missed one elsewhere? Its a reference work however and you would probably do better to read a short introduction elsewhere as you would only need a few of the constructs for use in style files. Best wishes ..Steve