Thanks Al
Actually in each case if there is any reference to A14 start end or middle then the whole phrase between the ** should be erased.
I like the looks of dragan's solution and will see if that works for me. Thank you as always for your input - much appreciated.

k

>>I have a character field that in many records contains misc data that I don't want to touch.
>>however there are records that are marked with * with data in between and closing *
>>What I want to do is delete the * data * portion of the misc field
>>
>>To add to this task I only want to delete it is it contains the word H14
>>so here is a sample
>>
>>misc: this data I don't want to touch *here is what I want to erase H14* however *this I want to remain A15*
>>
>>Is this even possible??
>
>Subject to a few limitations it should be possible.
>
>First, I assume you want the result of processing of your sample to be

this data I don't want to touch   however *this I want to remain A15*

>
>Second, you can run into issues unless you're precise with your delimiters. For example, if your sample is
>
>this data I don't want to touch *here is what I want to erase FGH14* however *this I want to remain A15*
>
>do you still want the first * delimited portion deleted? Or do you want to delete if:
>
>- String ends in "H14*"
>- String ends in " H14*"
>- String starts with "*H14"
>- String starts with "*H14 "
>- String contains "H14"
>- String contains "H14 "
>- String contains " H14"
>- String contains " H14 "