#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; # 825797 while ( my $line = ) { if ($line =~ /([A-Za-z ]+?)ZZZ([-A-Za-z]+)/) { my $fname = $1; my $lname= $2; chomp $lname; print "$lname \t $fname\n"; } } __DATA__ MikeZZZJones JohnZZZDoe FredZZZDoe Jean PierreZZZMcCoy JaneZZZSmith-Barre