DB wrote: > #clean up phone numbers > $phone_day=$array->{phone_day}; > $phone_day=~ s/[\-]+/ /g; > print OUTFILE "$array->{phone_day}|"; > > Why does this not work? Any ideas? > don't know if it is as easy as it seams but try $phone_day =~ s/-| //g; to strip hyphens and spaces :) regards cja -- Carsten Jahnke email: carstenjahnke at web.de