Paul, Just the kind of answer I like. I'll read through this, and see how I get on,
Best,

David.

I'd still be interested to know a bit more about setting up a regular expression for my original criteria. Looking at your code, I can see a couple of or (|) in there, and I assume that it can be used to specify an alternative which isn't always true, but could be,
Thanks,

David.

For example:
Find = <[0-9A-Z]{1,2}[a-z.]{2,5} [0-9]{1,}:[!^s .,;”\)]{1,}
Note: the 5 in {2,5} assumes longer names are abbreviated.
No. In StrBks, for example, they're used to delineate where | characters in the string are to be replaced by non-breaking spaces, which the board software doesn't support. This is explained in the preamble. In the calls to MakeDupes & HideDupes, they're used to delineate where | characters in the string are to be replaced by either a comma or semi-colon, depending on the user's regional settings.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Aaargh! My dream of becoming a Word MVP moves ever further away. Impressed

Be careful what you wish for!

Paul, Yes, this wheel you've invented is pretty good, but I'm using a slightly different vehicle. I don't normally mention this in the context of a forum, but I've no sight, and use a screen reader. Whilst I would like to get out of writing anything, the request from my friend is pretty specific. He wants all entries marked, then wants to create the index himself. The pattern you've recommended works fine, but I misled you (screen reader again). the books actually have a space between number and book, i.e. 1 Pe. Not to be defeated, I tried putting a \s into your pattern, but it found no results. on googling tutorials, I've found some rather patchy results. I am very happy to invent this particular wheel, and before reviving this thread, made every effort to find a solution.
Thanks,
David