note GrandFather <blockquote><i> <blockquote> <i>The double quote pairing is in fact correct</i> </blockquote> <code> # /^set\szone\s("([^"]*)"|id\s\d+\s"([^"]*)")/ # ^ ^ ^ ^ </code> <p>Yes, it is actually the <i>first</i> format which has the right parenthesis in the wrong place. But, as you say, that wasn&rsquo;t the OP&rsquo;s problem either.</p> </i></blockquote> <p>No. The OP's parenthesis matching really is correct - all of it. The parenthesis pairing is:</p> <c> # v v # /^set\szone\s("([^"]*)"|id\s\d+\s"([^"]*)")/ # ^ ^ ^ ^ </c> <p>The OP's issue is that the parenthesis marked with 'v' are the $1 capture group. The two sets of parenthesis marked with ^ are what the OP hoped were $1, but really they are redundant grouping parenthesis.</p> <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-461912"> True laziness is hard work </div></div> 992899 992910