Thanks a lot tachyon, it worked perfectly. My fracs will never have minus signs in front, so it should always work without a problem. However I have one more question, I know this is a very silly one : ) Once I come accross a fraction or an integer with a minus sign in front, I have to be able to recognize and act upon it. How would my if statement be then? I am sure the regex for it must be a very easy one but I just don't know enough perl to do it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.