#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $log=q<10.25.95.100 ab - [05/Aug/2003:12:00:30 -0700] "GET /creative/2|2127274-1>;
                                             # note 1 (re above)
# print "\$log is $log \n";                  # note 2  

if ( $log =~ / 
    (\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}) # capture IP digits
    \s[a-z]{2,2}\s-\s\[                  # match but don't capture space, dash, space
    (\d+\/[A-Z][a-z]{2,2}\/\d{4,4})      # capture the date
    :                                    # don't capture the perliminary colon
    (\d+:\d+:\d+\s-\d{4,4})              # capture time with colons &amp; GMT offset
    (.*)                                 # dot-slash deprecated, but capture to end
    /x  ) {                              # extended notation, end condit, print
   print "\$1=$1, \$2=$2, \$3=$3, \$4 = $4 \n";  # note 3
} else {
   print "no matches\n";
}                                            # note 4