Well, it really seems like an unneccesary way to to do it, but I did find a workaround. I wrapped a replace statement around the regexp_replace and I was able to get rid of the pesky hyphen that way. I guess I'll try and get the issue resolved through MetaLink on why it's not working as I expect it would with the regexp_replace, or what I was doing wrong. ------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Ferguson U.S. Geological Survey - Minerals Information Team PO Box 25046, MS-750 Denver, Colorado 80225 Voice (303)236-8747 ext. 321 Fax (303)236-4208 -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l