For example: I have a string "abcde2011-09-30.log", I want to check if this string matchs "(\d){4}-(\d){2}-(\d){2}" ( dont think it has correct syntax, but you get the idea). And I need to split the string into 3 parts: (abcde),(e2011-09-30), (.log). How can I do it in python? Thanks. For example: I have a string "abcde2011-09-30.l