preg_match('/^([0-9]+) (.)+/',$sString,$aMatches); Matches will be 1 => the number ; 2 => the text. The expression only matches if there is any character after the space. Not necessarily text, it might be another number or special characters 2009/2/6 bruce <bedouglas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > hi... > > trying to figure out the best approach to using preg_match to extract the > number from the follwing type of line... > > " 131646 sometext follows.." > > basically, i want to extract the number, without the text, but i have to be > able to match on the "text" > > i've been playing with different preg_match regexs.. but i'm missing > something obvious! > > thoughts/comments.. > > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > -- Alpar Torok