#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; unless (open(F,'./your_file')){ die "Unable to open file for reading $!"; }else{ my $file_str = join("",); close F; if($file_str =~ m/^(\.subckt.*?)x00/s){ my $match_str = $1; print $match_str."\n"; }else{ print "No match for you!"; } exit; } __OUTPUT__ .subckt cct0 v0 v1 v2 v3 + v4 v5 v6 * useless comment + v7 v8 v9 + va vb