filtering in queries

[NES]

I have a table with a field that is to be formatted as "99999-9999-999" where
the N stands for a digit: 5 digits, dash, 4 digits, dash 3 digits.

I have purposly not formatted the input field because due to government
fiddling, the format may change.

However, for the time being, I need to periodically check to see that this
format is being observed. I have created a query that uses the following
criteria:

not like "*****-****-***"

and it does find some but not all irregular entries. Is there a more
specific way of showing the format that I'm searching for in a query? That is
showing, exact placement of digits only (no alpha allowed).

I'm stumped on this one. ANy help would be most appreciated.

 

[NES]

Works like a charm. Thank you. I've actually used the dash in the string
rather than using inst(). Seems to work. Thanks again.