Not sure if i got it... but turn on auto split

karls-mac-mini:monks karl$ echo foo bar nose cuke  > file
karls-mac-mini:monks karl$ echo foo bar nose cuke  >> file

karls-mac-mini:monks karl$ cat file
foo bar nose cuke
foo bar nose cuke

# bullshit! perl -lnae 'print $F[3];' file
perl -lne '/(cuke)/;print $1' file
cuke
cuke
karls-mac-mini:monks karl$
[download]

Update: Shit! Did you mean this?

See perlrun.

Regards, Karl