my $rx = qr"^DMSC0022\s+\S+\s+(\w+)$"; my $fmt = "Logfile_Connection_Lost Hostname: %s"; $_="DMSC0022 X10 oswald"; if(my @match = /$rx) { printf "$fmt\n", @match; } #### my $rx = qr"^DMSC0022\s+\S+\s+(\w+)$"; my $fmt = "Logfile_Connection_Lost Hostname: %1"; $_="DMSC0022 X10 oswald"; if(my @match = /$rx/) { (my $msg = $fmt) =~ s/%\d+/$match[$1]/e; print "$msg\n"; }