($1,$2) = unpack 'x23 A15 x10 a10', $var; #### $var =~ m[^.{23}(.{15}}.{10}(.{10})]; #### $1 = substr $var, 23, 15; $2 = substr $var, 28, 10; #### ($1,$2) = unpack 'x23 a15 X10 a10', $var; #### $var =~ m[(?=.{23}(.{15}))(?=.{28}(.{10}))];