while ($line=) { chomp $line; if ($line=~/^COMPND[\s]{3}3/) { $line=join(' ',split(' ',$line)); # 1 chop $line; # 2 $chain=substr($line,length($line)-1,1); # 3 $lastchain=$chain; # 4 print OUTFILE ("$chain\n"); } else { $lastchain='@'; # 5 } }