#! perl use strict; use warnings; my $re = qr{^//\*+$}; while () { if (my $seq = /$re/ ... /$re/) { if ($seq > 1 && $seq !~ /E0$/) { print if m{^//\s*\S+}; } } } __DATA__ // useless comment Some Code //********************************************************** // //I need that text // And that also // //********************************************************** Some Code // useless comment //********************************************************** // More text //********************************************************** More code