#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; while (my $line = ) { chomp $line; if ($line =~ m,"?(/[^"]*)"?,) { print "Line matched: $line ($1)\n"; } else { print "Line didn't match: $line\n"; } } __DATA__ "/moreIters 10" "/bootMe any text here" /fewIter /some stuff here "/albatross" foo bar baz monkeys leprechauns /not monkeys /gnomes "not leprechauns though" #### Line matched: "/moreIters 10" (/moreIters 10) Line matched: "/bootMe any text here" (/bootMe any text here) Line matched: /fewIter (/fewIter) Line matched: /some stuff here (/some stuff here) Line matched: "/albatross" foo bar baz (/albatross) Line didn't match: monkeys Line matched: leprechauns /not monkeys (/not monkeys) Line matched: /gnomes "not leprechauns though" (/gnomes )