I am using a small perl script function, where the following values exist: $SEARCH - user input to search for $RECORD - A line of data in a flat text file $FIELD - Each Record line has delimited fields, fname, lname, add, phone, etc. I know this is a simple function, but can't seem to find the right syntax. What "IF" statement do I use to find out if ($FNAME = "Michael";) contains ($SEARCH = "M";) I don't care WHERE the string maybe found, just that it's in somewhere in $FNAME. Can someone please show me the "IF" statement I would write for this ? Thank YOU very MUCH in advance~! - Michael McKenzie Please email michael@therightdj.com

if($FNAME =~ /$SEARCH/)

THANK YOU SO MUCH~! Works like a charm. I knew it had something to do with /$SEARCH/ but couldn't get the right syntax. Thanks again. Michael

Next Search Question :0 Thanks for you help and I appreciate your response, I had just one more question. If I search for a Full Name the values are added together with the "+" example: $FULLNAME = "michael+mckenzie"; This will not match any of my data in $RECORD or $FIELD as everything is input without "+" signs. How do either add the "+" to my data on the fly as it searches, or REMOVE the "+" from my $SEARCH as it looks for the comparison ? Thanks again~! - Michael McKenzie

$FULLNAME =~ s/\+/\s/g; That will substitute all occurences of + with a space. The g at the end means global, and will cause it to substitute all +'s, rather than just the first one it finds.