I wondered the same thing when I first posted but the original poster
asked specifically for an 8 character solution.

I don't know much about IP address standards but I believe that some
have two characters instead of one in those rightmost sections. If
there is a different number of characters or if the pattern is
different than the original poster suggested, I would think that you'd
be able to determine by your companies IP naming standards how to
modify the format or the parsing formula.

It begs the question is 123.123.1.1 the same as 123.123.01.01? If so,
I'd think you want to always use the leading zeros so that the formula
is consistent. On the otherhand, CDiddy may have had a one time need
and may not be concerned about future uses or IPs that look different
than the first example.

- John
www.JohnMichl.com