hyphen's [ - ] are just for marking the start/end of a pattern, but there are _not in_ the pattern! "OUTPUT" is what i want after "seding" the PATTERN#X's so i for e.g.: need the first, and second "magic" sed "FIRSTMAGIC" PATTERN#1 sed "SECONDMAGIC" PATTERN#2 PATTERN#1: ----------------------------------- SOMETEXT#1 <br><font size=3>SOMETEXT#2</font><br> <br><font size=3>SOMETEXT#3</font><br> SOMETEXT#4 ----------------------------------- "exact pattern", what is unique from the pattern: ----------------------------------- </font><br>\n<br><font size=3> ----------------------------------- OUTPUT: ----------------------------------- SOMETEXT#1 <br><font size=3>SOMETEXT#3</font><br> SOMETEXT#4 ----------------------------------- and: PATTERN#2: ----------------------------------- SOMETEXT#1 <br><font size=3>SOMETEXT#2</font><br> </font></div></body></html> SOMETEXT#3 ----------------------------------- "exact pattern", what is unique from the pattern: ----------------------------------- </font><br>\n</font></div></body></html> ----------------------------------- OUTPUT: ----------------------------------- SOMETEXT#1 </font></div></body></html> SOMETEXT#3 ----------------------------------- i just can't figure it out, how to "sed" when having several lines [nor in awk, perl..] could anyone post a link, or some guide, how to write these two lines of "sed"? Thank You! :\