match patterns:

^[.]{2,}\w+
[if a given string has more than two occurences of [dot] .]

^[.]\w+
[if string has value .test is valid but ..test is invalid]

WBR, Alex Meleta
Blog:: devkids.blogspot.com

A> hi,
A> i'm a newbie to regex....
A> i need to check if a given string has more than two occurences of .
A> in the begiining of string
A>
A> for ex, if string has value  .test is valid but ..test is invalid
A>
A> Can you help me out with the pattern for such strings?
A>

This would acheive the same thing, but without using regular expressions.

If String.StartsWith(".") = True And String.StartsWith("..") = False Then
   'String starts with only one period.
Else
   'String starts with no periods or starts with more than one period.
End If

- Andrew

I answered this in microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.

Check out the MSDN's .Net Regular Expression forum for help with regex'es and
the top announcement .Net Regex Resource Reference which has referential
information geared towards all levels from expert to beginner.

Forum:
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/User/MyForums.aspx?SiteID=1

Top Post
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1131272&SiteID=1