SQL & PL/SQL

I've created a PLSQL function to scroll through a table and replace card numbers with asterisks. However, the number of tables that need to be updated could increase so I have used a REF CURSOR and that will take in a table name read from a table of table names.

The format of card numbers can also change so I have put regular expressions into a table and I use a cursor to retrieve those as necessary.

My problem is if I do this:--

IF REGEXP_instr (m_test_rec.narrative, '[0-9]{5}[A-Z]{1}-[0-9]{5}') > 0 THEN

the IF statement works.

If I do this:-

IF REGEXP_instr (m_test_rec.narrative, m_format_rec.bcf_format) > 0 THEN

(where M_FORMAT_REC.BCF_FORMAT is a VARCHAR2 string that equals '[0-9]{5}[A-Z]{1}-[0-9]{5}') the IF statement does not work. I have tried RTRIM/LTRIM and putting double quotes in the table field (ie ''[0-9]{5}[A-Z]{1}-[0-9]{5}'') but neither work.

When I try to use the REGEXP_INSTR in a cursor in this manner it works fine. However, I want to test this second way for timing issues (job currently takes 15 hours).

thanks