my $InputFile = "sample_log_file.txt"; open (my $IN, '<', $InputFile) or die "cannot open $each_file for writing: $!"; undef $/; # undef by default if localized while ($line = <$IN>) { #$line =~ s{^(RTRV)}{\>$1}gsi; #$line =~ s{(\"\s+)(;)}{$1\>$2}gsi; if($line =~ m/^\>(.*)\>/gis) { push @all_metrics, "$1"; } } print Dumper(@all_metrics); close($IN)