Make it easier on yourself, and use split to grab each item, since you already have the spaces there:

my ( $id, $time, $date, $col1, $col2, $col3, $col4 ) = 
    split / /, $line;
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Then you can concentrate on any other checks that you want to do to make sure the number if valid. Note that in your expression to get the E number, your are using '.', which you need to escape if you want to match a decimal point, otherwise it will simply match any character. Try somethign like: \d\.\d*E[-+]\d\d (particular if this is coming from a fortran or c output code).

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain