Edit: Bummer, this doesn't really work for you since that method can only be used on a whole file rather than separate lines.

I don't say it's the fastest way, but this is definitly the most flexible and convenient. This also sets you up for future changes in the field selection, you can even put the fragment-identifier into a config file or something. 
use Modern::Perl;
use Text::CSV_XS;
use Data::Dumper;

my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new({ sep_char=> "," });

#normally this would be a real file handle
my $line = "a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z";
open my $fh, "<", \$line;
my $row = $csv->fragment($fh, "col=1;3;10-12;23-*");

print Dumper($row);

[download]
Output 

$VAR1 = [
          [
            'a',
            'c',
            'j',
            'k',
            'l',
            'x',
            'y',
            'z'
          ]
        ];

[download]


holli

You can lead your users to water, but alas, you cannot drown them.

In reply to Re: What is the most efficient way to split a long string (see body for details/constraints)? by holli
in thread What is the most efficient way to split a long string (see body for details/constraints)? by mikegold10

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