hi! using the latest regex patch and vc7.1 i've accidentally encountered the following: ... regex re("([^\n]*\\n+\\s+)+NEEDEDSUBITEM2:[^\\s]"); bool matched = regex_search(text, re); // bad_expression ... i figured out those \\s -s may cause the problem. sample text attached. and one question: having "DATA.*?ITEM1(ITEM2)?" and an input like "DATA ITEM1 ITEM1ITEM2" should ITEM2 be extracted? i think it would be good to make a note on this case in the doc. yours, adam begin 666 match_test.txt M#0I)5$5-5%E014$Z#0H@(" @4U5"251%33$Z('AX> T*#0H@(" @3D5%1$5$ M4U5"251%33$Z(" @('AX>'@-"B @("!.145$141354))5$5-.B @("!X>'AX M#0H-"DE414U465!%0CH-"B @("!354))5$5-,3H@>'AX#0H-"B @("!.145$ M141354))5$5-,3H@(" @>'AX> T*(" @($Y%141%1%-50DE414TR.B @("!X '>'AX#0H-"@`` ` end