#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $line; open INPUT_FILE, "input_filename" or die "Wonky!\n"; open FIRST_FILE, ">filename1" or die "Hork!\n"; open SECOND_FILE, ">filename2" or die "Foo!\n"; open THIRD_FILE, ">filename3" or die "Spew!\n"; while ($line = ) { if $line =~ /first_criteria/ { print FIRST_FILE $line; } else if $line =~ /secod_criteria/ { print SECOND_FILE $line; } # And so on. }