# repeated part my $rp = qr!(-?\d+\.\d+E[-+]\d+)!; my $regex = qr!^(\d+)\s(\d\d):(\d\d):(\d\d)\s (\d\d)-(\w+)-(\d{4})\s(\d+)\s(\d+\s+\d+)\s $rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp\s$rp!x;