lax,

Using the following code and your string I get 160 characters output:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $string="#22 2006-05-02 12:12:35 hjjjdddddd Advisory.No action requ
+ired. event-101 severe is the name of the alarm but the way it is dis
+palyed cannot be digested at all 12121212121122";
print substr($string,0,160);
<code>
Output:
<code>
#22 2006-05-02 12:12:35 hjjjdddddd Advisory.No action required. event-
+101 severe is the name of the alarm but the way it is dispalyed canno
+t be digested at all
[download]

Can you please post the complete code you are using?

Update: Fixed typo, print substr($string,0,16); changed to print substr($string,0,160);

Martin