$_[0] =~ m/([a-zA-Z0-9\-\_\/\.\,]+) \s*\t ([^\t]+) \t ([0-9\.]+) \t? ([0-9\.]+)?/x; # note the x modifier to allow for # multiline format #### $_[0] =~ m/([a-zA-Z0-9\-\_\/\.\,]+) \s*\t (.+?) \t ([0-9\.]+) \t? ([0-9\.]+)?/x;