No, since it is a code file I doubt there are any formatting or control codes. I have dissected your expression and I can get it to find any space or skip any space if I only use [!^32] or ^32. And I can find any string of 80 characters by using *{80}. But I can not get the exclusion expression to work with the 80 character expression. This is what I have right now but it is ignoring the exclusion. [!^32]*{80}