>PS. examples of what should be entered in text1 would be
>
>BR1.2-2838 or CD.5-3920
>
>IOW two letters followed by a decimal followed by a dash followed by four numbers. The entire string is character.
>
>Thanks

You can do validation either in Field Validation in Database or in valid of the textbox, whatever you prefer and is suitable for your application.

Regarding verifying this format check this thread for ideas:
Coding, syntax & commands Re: Checking string for predefined format Thread #403485 Message #403859