I'd use split. One of the points of the OP's spec is "repeated more than 5 times". A lot easier to check with split, than the cram it all in a regexp.

Untested: 

my @chunks = split /PAT/, $str;
shift @chunks unless $str =~ /^PAT/;
pop @chunks unless $str =~ /PAT$/;
if (@chunks > 4) {
    say "Lengths: @{[map {length} @chunks]}";
}

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In reply to Re^3: How can I count characters between two same substrings in a string where the substring is repeated more than 5 times? by JavaFan
in thread How can I count characters between two same substrings in a string where the substring is repeated more than 5 times? by supriyoch_2008

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