The Match Pattern VI is great if you do not have a consistant string length. However, it appears you might have consistant string-lengths, and if so, you could consider using the String Subset VI, where your 2 main considerations are offset and length. So, if your date-field is always of length 7 with an offset of 2, then you'll always get the 7 characters beginning at position 2 of the initial string. Just one method of many - good luck.