hi, I need help deciphering this example using preg_match_all() $string = <br>example: </b><div align=left>this is a test</div>"; preg_match_all("|<[^>]+>(.*)</{^>]+>|U", $string, $output, PREG_PATTERN_ORDER); i don't understand the first argument. what is it, and how does that work? any help at all would be greatly appreciated. :O) Tiang