preg_match

I was wondering if anyone ever thought of either fixing or writing a new function that would make preg_match actually work in a way that made sense? right now i need to pass in a optional parameter that will receive the match, in this case one or no match, why should this not be the function's return already? something like: $string = "<td>my text</td>"; $result = preg_match("/\<td\>(.*)\<\/td\>/", $string); $result // = "my text" Maybe something like preg_extract? I do not have the C skills to write a patch but i think adding a new function would not break BC or have negative side effects, would it? -- Rafael Dohms PHP Evangelist and Community Leader http://www.rafaeldohms.com.br http://www.phpsp.org.br