here is an idea that doesn't use regex:
all characters have an ansi value and usually consecutive. so abcd should have let's say the following ansi values:64,65,66,67

pseudocode:

for (i=string.start;i&lt;string.end-4;i++) {
   check=string.substring(i,4);
   c1=check.substring(0,1);
   c2=check.substring(1,1);
   c3=check.substring(2,1);
   c4=check.substring(3,1);
   if (c1.ansival==c2.ansival+1 &amp;&amp; c2.ansival==c3.ansival+1 &amp;&amp; c3.ansival==c4.ansival+1) {
      return false;
   } else {
      return true;
   }
}


also repeat in reverse order (c1.ansival+1==c2.ansival) for descending order

check if a string has four consecutive letters in ascending or descending order
I am trying to understand what kinds of places the spam values on p 231 refer to in the 5th Edition main book for Shadowrun.

Per p 15, a sprawl is a plex, a plex is a "metropolitan complex, short for metroplex". Per Google a metroplex is " a very large metropolitan area, especially one that is an aggregation of two or more cities".  A city downtown and sprawl downtown would tend to have similar densities, but for some reason the sprawl (which includes suburbs?) has a higher spam zone noise rating (p 231).  Similarly, I'd think of a downtown as being more dense and noisy (e.g. Office buildings and street vendors) than a commercial district, e.g. an outdoor mall.  The noise ratings make me think that I am thinking about this incorrectly. What is a better way of thinking of them?
