I was asking about efficiency between split and using a regx:
Here is the stuff:

Using split:


while(<DATA>) {
  ($time,$date,$data1,$data2) = (split)[1,2,6,7];
  print "$time $date $data1 $data2", "\n";
}

the code took:26 wallclock secs ( 2.17 usr +  0.55 sys =  2.72 CPU)


Using an REGX:


while(<DATA>) {
  /^(\d+) (\d\d:\d\d:\d\d) (\d\d-\w+-\d{4}) (\d+) (\d+\s+\d+) (\d.\d*E[+-]\d+) (\d.\d*E[+-]\d+)/;
  print "$2 $3 $6 $7\n";
}

the code took:25 wallclock secs ( 1.98 usr +  0.73 sys =  2.71 CPU)


Much of a muchness really.

Regards,
	Stacy.