preg_match question

[cribs]

I am getting form values like: aaaa bbbb ccccc xxxxxx
I have been searching pre_match, eregi, regex to find a way to test the input form variables
for 3 or more of the same characters. The code below does not work but may give you an idea of what I am looking for.
if (eregi("([a-z*]{3})", $string))
{
echo "Invalid string format: $string";
}

[paulnaj]

Hi,

<?php 
$string = 'aaaa bbbb ccccc xxxxxx';
$pattern = '/[a-z]{3}/'; 
if(preg_match($pattern, $string)){ 
	echo "Invalid string format: ".$string; 
}
?> 

Paul. 🙂