33. The method of claim 31 , wherein the bitcheck command contains a bitmap including a plurality of compliance bits, each indicating whether a corresponding reference character of a general set of characters is a member of the specified set of characters.
33. The method of claim 31 , wherein the bitcheck command contains a bitmap including a plurality of compliance bits, each indicating whether a corresponding reference character of a general set of characters is a member of the specified set of characters. 38. The method of claim 33 , wherein the regular expression further includes an exact pattern, a third of the commands comprises a check string command embodying the exact pattern, and the processing further comprises: executing the check string command in a third of the processors to determine whether the input string matches the exact pattern.