if ( /^Subject:\D+(\d+)/ ){
# if you can be sure of the '#' before the digits, use this
# if ( /^Subject:.*#(\d+)/ )  not that it buys you much
      push @subject, $1;
      next;
  }     # if /subject
...

##</code><code>##

if ( /\s*Out Comments\s*(.*)$/ ) {
  push @out_comments, $1;
  while (<>) {
# quit on a blank line or -------
    last if /^\s*$/ or /^\s*[-]+\s*$/;
    s/^\s*//;   # get rid of spaces at the beginning
    push @out_comments, $_;
  }
  next;
}   # if /Out Comments/

##</code><code>##

$output_str = "@subject[$j];@failed[$j];@monthi[$j]/@dayi[$j]/@yeari[$j];@routerval[$j];" .
          "@tag[$j];@montho[$j]/@dayo[$j]/@yearo[$j];@lotCode[$j];@commentso[$j]\n";
# or, if you've gone to scalars
$output_str = "$subject;$failed;$monthi/$dayi/$yeari;$routerval;" .
          "$tag;$montho/$dayo$/$yearo;$lotCode;$commentso\n";
    
print OUTPUT $output_str;
  print $output_str;