my $s = "43436 66 78 5333 3444 ... 345ms : 34.56ms : 45ms"; my @vars = $s =~ /([0-9.]+)ms/g; if( $s =~ /(\d+)ms : ([0-9.]+)ms : (\d+)ms/ ){ my @vars = ($1, $2, $3 ); }