To reproduce: create a table with a data type of varchar (50) and name it email
insert into this table the following values: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Execute the following statement: SELECT CASE WHEN count(substring(email FROM '@.')) > 0 THEN count(substring(email FROM '@.')) ELSE 0 END, email FROM your_schema.your_table GROUP BY email; Result with be equal to 1 / True. It should be 0 / False. If you execute the above but replace '@.' with '@a' it will also return 1 / True is correct. The only time it fails for me is if the @ is immediately followed by a period. 7.3.4 using psql via pgadminIII under cygwin. Mike ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to [EMAIL PROTECTED]