c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le "for my $string (qw( 50.10-d557_5 50.10-d557_8 50.10-d557_20 50.10-d557_123 )) { my ($value) = $string =~ m{ _ (\d+) \z }xms; print qq{'$string' -> '$value'}; } " '50.10-d557_5' -> '5' '50.10-d557_8' -> '8' '50.10-d557_20' -> '20' '50.10-d557_123' -> '123'