c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le "print qq{perl version $]}; ;; my @strings = ( 'Link:1625 housing Link:2004', 'Link:638 92-5000|Link:63892-5070', ); ;; my $rx_numeric = qr{ \d+ (?: - \d+)? }xms; ;; for my $str (@strings) { my @matches = $str =~ m{ Link : ($rx_numeric (?: \s+ $rx_numeric)?) }xmsg; print qq{'$str' -> }, map qq{'$_' }, @matches; } " perl version 5.008009 'Link:1625 housing Link:2004' -> '1625' '2004' 'Link:638 92-5000|Link:63892-5070' -> '638 92-5000' '63892-5070'