#!/usr/bin/perl --
use strict;
use warnings;
my  $file = "./max/base/file.c:       $(ROOT)/../../../api/maX  \\";
my ( $left, $right ) = split /:\s{4,}/, $file ;
use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper( $file, $left, $right );
__END__
$VAR1 = './max/base/file.c:       0ROOT)/../../../api/maX  \\';
$VAR2 = './max/base/file.c';
$VAR3 = '0ROOT)/../../../api/maX  \\';
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I hope you noticed that "" interpolate :)