my $string = "first-item \"second item\" third-item";
my @items = split /???/, $string;
my $i = 0;
print ++$i, ": $_\n" for @items;
# Would print:
# 1: first-item
# 2: "second item"
# 3: third-item

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Originally posted as a Categorized Question.

In reply to How can I split on a string except when inside quotes? by Adam

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