I don't really understand your requirements, but maybe this slightly different approach will help: 
use strict; 
use warnings; 

my $s = ' A ||118|AVIANN GILDED WILD HONEY. HM 75081701. 02-04-97';
if ($s =~ / ^ .* [|] (.*) [.] ([^.]+) [.] ([^.]+) $ /x) {
    my $name = $1;
    my $num  = $2;
    my $date = $3;
    print "Name = $name\n";
    print "Num  = $num\n";
    print "Date = $date\n";
}

__END__

Name = AVIANN GILDED WILD HONEY
Num  =  HM 75081701
Date =  02-04-97

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Can you show a few more lines of your actual input?

Update: The above now accounts for a period in the name. Here is my original code: 

if ($s =~ / .* [|] ([^.]+) [.] ([^.]+) [.] (.*) /x) {

[download]

In reply to Re: regexp identify variable number of digits within a sentence by toolic
in thread regexp identify variable number of digits within a sentence by bdalzell

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