How to format a strign with a generic mask??

Hi Folks, First of all, sorry for my english, but it isn´t good. I ´ll try to be cleary. Weel, I need a simple function that takes a string and format with a generic mask. Like this example above: $string1 = "12345678" $string2 = "11062003" echo format_string ("#.###.###-#", $string1); // --> Returns 1.234.567-8 echo format_string ("##/##/####", $string1); // --> Returns 11/06/2003 Does anybody here have an idea to how to do this? Thanks, and sorry again for my english. __________________________________________________________________ Felipe Desiderati e Souza Analista de Sistemas e Suporte Unimed - Fed. Est. Rio de Janeiro ICQ#: 68557248 __________________________________________________________________