$TheRecord="Serling|Rod|Twilight Zone|";
@TheFields=split (/(\|)/, $TheRecord);

##</code><code>##

('Serling', '|', 'Rod', '|', 'Twilight Zone', '|')

##</code><code>##

$TheRecord="Serling|Rod|Twilight Zone|";
@TheFields=split(/(?:\|)/, $TheRecord);

##</code><code>##

('Serling', 'Rod', 'Twilight Zone')

##</code><code>##

@TheFields=split(/\|/, $TheRecord);