my @Goodlines = $line =~ m/(^\S{1}\/\S{1})\s+\S{7}\s+\S{1}\s+(\-\S{3}\.\S{4}\sdBm)\s(\-\S{3}\.\S{4}\sdBm)/g; #this string filters the for values i want @Goodlines = grep { $_ !~ /^(?:\s+|)$/ } @Goodlines;