($_)=<DATA>=~/<!\[CDATA\[(.*?)]]/;
__DATA__
<Prompt><![CDATA[Please describe your experience maintaining batteries
+, associated power equipment and diesel. . (If you do not have this e
+xperience, please enter ?none? and continue to the next question).  ]
+]></Prompt>
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The <DATA> can be replaced with a variable that holds the info. The ($_) is getting the response of the regular expression in list format. So the $1 variable which returns the first group gets placed into $_.