stowite;
OK -- thanks for your efforts thus far.
I'm probably not going to stick with RE(s) -- they seem to be more trouble than they are worth.
Tomorrow I'll be taking delivery of "Mastering Regular Expression 3rd Ed.", so I'll wait until after I've read some of it before I decide for sure.
I think I have a better appreciation for the joke about deciding to use RE(s) and thereby adding an additional problem to the one you're currently trying to solve.
I can always re-sell the book or give it to one of the local comp-sci students.
I'm well on the way to handling the command parsing without RE(s).
Just in case you may have wondered about the project I'm working on--
The program I'm writing will reside in an Arduino Pro Mini and will read RFID tags fastened to the underside of my model electric train engines. As the engine approaches a crossing gate, the program will detect which specific engine is passing by reading it's RFID tag to get the DCS engine # so I can then transmit a command (via) radio to the train control unit to tell the engine to sound the 'crossing' signal. The gate closing/opening is handled by 4 IR detectors.
Thanks again;
Ray