diff --git a/matlab/get_data_request_names_from_gdat_xxx.m b/matlab/get_data_request_names_from_gdat_xxx.m
index 728e15104fa01f798cd407f731b7715b54e364c4..ae5e9261feb802d5ef2fe9c08cbfcc5ab4571031 100644
--- a/matlab/get_data_request_names_from_gdat_xxx.m
+++ b/matlab/get_data_request_names_from_gdat_xxx.m
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ end
 fid=fopen([machine_in '_requests_mapping.m'],'r');
 nextline=fgetl(fid);
 while isempty(nextline) || ~isnumeric(nextline) || nextline~=-1 %length(nextline)>2 || ~strcmp(nextline,'-1')
-  if length(nextline)>7 && strcmp(nextline(1:6),' case ')
+  if length(nextline)>7 && ~isempty(regexp(nextline,'^ +case '))
     ij=find(nextline==['''']);
     if ~isempty(ij)
       for i=1:2:length(ij)-1