"David S." wrote: > ... > Wouldn't it be easier to compile the regular expression once before you > opent the file, then use the object's 'match' method at each line? > I noticed other people suggesting these kinds of improvements also, but if you look closely, there is really no other way for him to do it: >>> To determine pass/fail, there is a string in the file (which is the srchStr in the example above) that is an expression composed of regex's and logical operators, like: "!(/Error Count = [1-9]/ || /Abort/ || /[1-9] error/ || /fatal/)" <<< So you see, the string is in the file. Since it is pre-existing, he can't be told to do it otherwise. This is a legacy code issue ;-) Guy N. Hurst -- HurstLinks Web Development http://www.hurstlinks.com/ Norfolk, VA 23510 (757)623-9688 FAX 623-0433 PHP/MySQL - Ruby/Perl - HTML/Javascript