Character-class
pattern for USA format date
string (MM/DD/YYYY):
[:digit:][:digit:]/[:digit][:digit:]/[:digit:]{4}
Which is equivalent to
\d\d/\d\d/\d{4}
Or \d{2}/\d{2}\/d{4}
Except that character classes may be more locale-sensitive, if I understood them correctly.
Another benefit of the named classes is that backslashes can bite.
[ April 18, 2008: Message edited by: Tim Holloway ]
The secret of how to be miserable is to constantly expect things are going to happen the way that they are "supposed" to happen.
You can have faith, which carries the understanding that you may be disappointed. Then there's being a willfully-blind idiot, which virtually guarantees it.