Apache log file formats (there are several) consist of space delimited variable width fields:

127.0.0.1 - frank [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTT
+P/1.0" 200 2326 "http://www.example.com/start.html" "Mozilla/4.08 [en
+] (Win98; I ;Nav)"

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(The last two quote strings may not be present.)

Every one of those fields except possibly the date and status code can vary in length; so pack and unpack which are primarily designed for fixed length fields and binary work, are the wrong tools for the job.

split is the more applicable tool for your task:

my @bits = split ' ', $line;

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In reply to Re: Question about the most efficient way to read Apache log files without All-In-One Modules from CPAN (personal learning exercise) by BrowserUk
in thread Question about the most efficient way to read Apache log files without All-In-One Modules from CPAN (personal learning exercise) by lulz

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