use strict; use warnings; my $data = do {local $/; }; while ($data =~ /^(john.*)\n(?:(?!john).*\n)*?(jacob.*)/mg) { print "$1 > $2\n"; } __DATA__ bhgfsggdsgsg -- john1 weruwearnwrnweuarar jjafdaiuweifweofiuwe jacob - 1.0 -- nfaslf23523525 john2 asfsjldf43tgre john3 asbdfhskafbv3333v sdfahh34ttg sadfhk34t3wtg sdfhk3gfwghhw3 jacob - 2.0