On Thu, May 20, 2021 at 09:59:59AM +0200, steve-humphreys@gmx.com wrote:
> I wonder why I am getting 
> 
> Symbol's value as variable is void: message

Because you are using it as a variable down there:
> 
> (message " ")
> (message "*** ***")
> (setq s (string-match "[+]+"  "++++++++++++++++"))
> message("%s" s)
  ^^^ HERE
> (setq s (string-match "[+-]+" "++++++++++++++++"))
> message("%s" s)
> (setq s (string-match "[+-]+" "----------------"))
> message("%s"  s)
  ^^^ AND HERE

Now *STOP*.

Think about it. How could you have debugged it yourself?

That's the only way to improve.

Cheers
 - t