Ok, so anthony answered the question with a question...

I can work with that. On further thought, decided on doing it all from left to right instead of both ends to the middle.
code:
Break on
$sending='sending FTP_Iconsd.lnk 09/09/2001 20:44:00 (09/09/2001 00:00:00)'

if instr($sending,'sending ')
  $b=substr($sending,instr($sending,' ')+1,(instr($sending,'/')-instr($sending,' '))-4)
endif
'['+$b+']' ?

$receiving='receiving IMS - Transferring Returns.doc (new file)'
if instr($receiving,'receiving ')
  $c=substr($receiving,instr($receiving,' ')+1,(instr($receiving,'(')-instr($receiving,' '))-2)
endif
'['+$c+']' ?
get $_
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