Assuming that file names can also have leading and/or trailing spaces in them, for example
' file name ' then you may want something like this:
while ( <$in> ) {
chomp;
my %field;
# remove and capture leading fields
s/^ *(\S+) (\S+) +(\d+) ([\d:]+) (\d+) (\d+) ([\d.]+) (\d+) // and
@field{ qw/ day_name month day current_time year transfer_time
+ remote_host file_size / } = ( $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8 );
# remove and capture trailing fields
s/ (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+) (\S+)$// and
@field{ qw/ transfer_type special_action_flag direction access
+_mode username service_name authentication_method authenticated_user_
+id completion_status / } = ( $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9 );
# only thing left is file name
$field{ filename } = $_;
print "$_ = '$field{$_}'\n" for keys %field;
print "\n";
}
