OK I have strings like these: AGDHA!jdbsah/dsgadg#dasdwq*dsad and <INT> <HEXA> etc. the first one must be mathced and these in the <> not -- View this message in context: http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/regex-tp3306635p3306858.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.