I would make your example a little safer: 
my %data = $_ =~ m{
  ([^=\s]+) \s* = \s* 
  ["']? (
    (?<= '  ) [^']* (?=  '   ) |
    (?<=  " ) [^"]* (?=   "  ) |
    (?<!['"]) \S+   (?! ['"] )
  )["']?
}xg;

[download]
That, to me, seems safer, because it ensures a string that starts quoted ends quoted, and a string that doesn't start quoted doesn't end quoted (for some bizarre reason).
_____________________________________________________
Jeff[japhy]Pinyan: Perl, regex, and perl hacker, who'd like a job (NYC-area)
s++=END;++y(;-P)}y js++=;shajsj<++y(p-q)}?print:??;

In reply to Re^2: Regex Report by japhy
in thread Regex Report by japhy

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