use strict; use warnings; my $numbers = join '|', qw(2345678923 2121212121 4424352424 2323232323); my $transaction = ''; my $keep; my $startRe = qr!!; my $endRe = qr!!; my $match = qr!(^|\D)($numbers)($|\D)!; while (defined (my $line = )) { my $inTransaction = $line =~ $startRe .. $line =~ $endRe; next unless $inTransaction || $keep; $transaction .= $line; $keep ||= $line =~ /$match/sm; next unless $inTransaction =~ 'E0$'; print $transaction if $keep; $transaction = ''; $keep = undef; } __DATA__ 2345678923 1 junk 12345678923 2121212121 #### 2345678923 2121212121