while(){ if(($_ !~ /^(INFO|DEBUG|ID|\s+)/)){ print"Line check\n"; } } outputs: -------- Line check Line check __DATA__ ID Run Timestamp Entry Attempt Message Type Message 13 251 2006-07-06 13:21:14.0 1 1 INFO Starting for (ActivityId=13, DataSource=dunkle-rs) 13 251 2006-07-06 13:21:14.0 2 1 INFO Querying remote datasource ...