I have a line of code that validates form info for some POST vars, but not others. if (!ereg("^[A-Za-z' -]{1,50}$",$_POST[$field]) ) when I put O'Toole in the form to test, my script kicks the page back (I thought this entry would be OK) but moreover, when it redisplays the form and populates the new form with the entries previously entered, O'Toole becomes O\ when I put similar entries into fields that are not run through this line, they go to the DB as typed. Any advice? Thanks again Don