my %checks = (
               '123:C' => [ 'A[0-7]' ],
               '456:D' => [ 'B[8-9]', 'B1[0-5]' ]
             );

while ( <DATA>)
{
 chomp;
 my $check = $_;

 my $matches = 0;
 #-- get the trailing key
 my $first_part = "";
 my $key = "";
 if ( $check =~ /(\w+):(\w+:\w+)$/ )
 {
  $first_part = $1;
  $key = $2;
 }

 #-- look up key in our checks hash
 foreach my $match_pattern ( @{$checks{$key}} )
 {
  if ( $first_part =~ /$match_pattern/ )
  {
   print "Line $_ matches $match_pattern:$key\n";
   $matches = 1;
  }
 }
 print "Line $_ doesn't match\n" unless ( $matches );
}

__DATA__
A4:123:C
B8:456:D
B11:456:D
X11:456:D
[download]

Line A4:123:C matches A[0-7]:123:C
Line B8:456:D matches B[8-9]:456:D
Line B11:456:D matches B1[0-5]:456:D
Line X11:456:D doesn't match
[download]

I'm liking this. One question on this. Is there a simple way (one line regex substitution for example) to get from B10-15 to B1[0-5], or B120-125 to B12[0-5]? Actually, as I think about it, I may need to apply some logic to handle B18-24. Can you think of a good way to handle this one?

Hi
the B10-15 example is easy: B1[0-5] (character class), as is B120-125 (B12[0-5]). As you say, logic spanning B18-24 is more difficult; that's why I broke it into 2 regexs in my post above. It was easier to match B1[8-9] or B2[0-4] than to try some regex-fu. You may be more adept with regexes than I am.
- j
update: escape out [ ] so they're visible.

use strict;

my @check = ('A4:123:C');
my @ranges = ('A0-7:123:C', 'B8-15:456:D', 'A5-7:123:C');

foreach my $check (@check) {
   my @cp = $check =~ m!(\w)(\d+):(\d+):(\w)!;
   foreach my $range (@ranges) {
      if($range =~ m!$cp[0](\d+)\-(\d+):$cp[2]:$cp[3]!) {
         if($check[0] >= $1 and $check[0] <= $2) {
            print "$check mathes $range\n";
         }
      }
   }
}
[download]

This is probably closer to what I am looking for, thanks esskar, I have to play with the my @cp = $check =~ m!(\w)(\d+):(\d+):(\w)!; line, I've never done something like that.

use strict; 
use warnings;

my $range_spec = 'A8-15';

# Parse the range spec:
my ($tag, $lo, $hi) = $range_spec =~ /(\D+)(\d+)-(\d+)/;

# Check the data lines
while (<DATA>) {
  chomp;
  my ($dtag, $dnum) = /(\D+)(\d+)/;
  if ($dtag eq $tag and $dnum >= $lo and $dnum <= $hi) {
    print "$_ matches $range_spec!\n";
  }
  else {
    print "Mismatch: $_\n";
  }
}
__DATA__
A1
A2
B8
B11
A11
A9
A15
A16
[download]

use strict;

my @array = qw(A0-7:123:C B8-15:456:D);
my $check = 'A4:123:C';

_check_range(\@array, $check) and print "in range\n";


sub _check_range {
    my $arr = shift;
    my $check = shift;
    my $regex = qr{^([a-zA-Z]+)(\d+)(?:-(\d+))?:(\d+):(\w+)};

    $check =~ /$regex/ or return;

    my %check = ( 'char1', $1, 'digit1', $2, 'digit2', $4 , 'char2', $
+5 );

    for( @$arr ){
      if( /$regex/ ){
        if( $check{char1} eq $1 and $check{char2} eq $5 ){
          if( $check{digit2} == $4 ){
            $check{digit1} >= $2 and $check{digit1} <= $3 and return 1
          }
        }
      }
    }
}
[download]