in reply to Problem in pattern matching with alternation

The following re seems to meet your requirements:
my ($tag,$storage)=$arr=~/^\*\s+(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s+\w+/;
Update:Added Tag extraction. Assumes there are no spaces in the path.

($arr seems strangely named, considering it is a scalar).

I'm a former clearcase admin, so you have my sympathies.

     "An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions." - Robert A. Humphrey         "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." - Henry J. Tillman