tybalt89's code is brittle - will break if the closing brace is not the first character, or if any option starts with "object...".

You just write a recursive-descent parser. Doing that is pretty easy. Here's most of one:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

use Data::Dumper 'Dumper';

my %Data;

my $Comment =   '/[*]([^*]+|[*]+[^*/])*[*]/';
my $Name =      '([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*)';
my $Quoted =    '"([^"]*)"';


local $/;
my $code = <DATA>;
parse( \$code );
print Dumper( \%Data );
exit;

    sub parse {
        my( $svCode ) = @_;
        skip( $svCode );
        while( $$svCode !~ /\G\z/gc ) {
            if( $$svCode =~ /\Goptions(?!\w)/gc ) {
                parseOptions( $svCode );
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\Gobject(?!\w)/gc ) {
                parseObject( $svCode );
            } else {
                fail( $svCode, "Expected 'options' or 'object'" );
            }
            skip( $svCode );
        }
    }

    sub skip {
        my( $svCode ) = @_;
        0
            while   $$svCode =~ /\G\s+/gc
                ||  $$svCode =~ /\G$Comment/gc;
    }

    sub expect {
        my( $svCode, $re, $desc ) = @_;
        skip( $svCode );
        fail( $svCode, "Expected ", $desc )
            if  $$svCode !~ /\G$re/gc;
        my $return = $1;
        skip( $svCode );
        return $return;
    }

    sub fail {
        my( $svCode, @error ) = @_;
        my $pos = pos $$svCode;
        my $before = substr( $$svCode, 0, $pos );
        my $line = 1 + ( $before =~ tr/\n/\n/ );
        my $col = 1 + length( $before =~ /([^\n]*)\z/ ? $1 : '' );
        my $next = $$svCode =~ /\G([^\n]{1,8})/gc ? $1 : undef;
        die @error, " at line $line, col $col, before '$next'.\n"
            if  defined $next;
        my $after = $before =~ /([^\n]{1,8})\z/ ? $1 : undef;
        die @error, " at line $line, col $col, after '$after'.\n"
            if  defined $after;
        die @error, " at line $line, col $col.\n";
    }

    sub parseOptions {
        my( $svCode ) = @_;
        expect( $svCode, '[{]', "'{' after 'options'" );
        while( $$svCode !~ /\G[}]/gc ) {
            my $name = expect( $svCode, $Name, 'option name' );
            if( $$svCode =~ /\G$Name/gc ) {
                $Data{''}{$name} = $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G$Quoted/gc ) {
                # TODO: Unescape things that can be escaped inside quo
+tes
                $Data{''}{$name} = $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G[{]/gc ) {
                parseListOption( $svCode, $name );
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G\z/gc ) {
                fail( $svCode, "Missing '}' at end of options" );
            } else {
                fail( $svCode, "Unsupported value for option '$name'" 
+);
            }
            expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after option '$name'" );
        }
        expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after options" );
    }

    sub parseListOption {
        my( $svCode, $name ) = @_;
        skip( $svCode );
        my @values;
        while( $$svCode !~ /\G[}]/gc ) {
            skip( $svCode );
            if( $$svCode =~ /\G$Name/gc ) {
                push @values, $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G$Quoted/gc ) {
                # TODO: Unescape things that can be escaped inside quo
+tes
                push @values, $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G\z/gc ) {
                fail( $svCode, "Missing '}' at end of list of option '
+$name'" );
            } else {
                fail( $svCode, "Unsupported value in list of option '$
+name'" );
            }
            expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after value in list of option '
+$name'" );
        }
        $Data{''}{$name} = \@values;
    }

    sub parseListObject {
        my( $svCode, $obj, $name ) = @_;
        skip( $svCode );
        my @values;
        while( $$svCode !~ /\G[}]/gc ) {
            skip( $svCode );
            if( $$svCode =~ /\G$Name/gc ) {
                push @values, $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G$Quoted/gc ) {
                # TODO: Unescape things that can be escaped inside quo
+tes
                push @values, $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G\z/gc ) {
                fail( $svCode, "Missing '}' at end of list '$obj'.'$na
+me'" );
            } else {
                fail( $svCode, "Unsupported value in list of '$obj'.'$
+name'" );
            }
            expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after value in list of '$obj'.'
+$name'" );
        }
        $Data{$obj}{$name} = \@values;
    }

    sub parseObject {
        my( $svCode ) = @_;
        my $obj = expect( $svCode, $Quoted, 'object name' );
        # TODO: Unescape things that can be escaped inside object name
+s
        expect( $svCode, 'in', "'in' after object '$obj'" );
        expect( $svCode, '[{]', "'{' for object '$obj'" );
        while( $$svCode !~ /\G[}]/gc ) {
            my $name = expect( $svCode, $Name, "option name for object
+ '$obj'" );
            if( $$svCode =~ /\G$Name/gc ) {
                $Data{$obj}{$name} = $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G$Quoted/gc ) {
                # TODO: Unescape things that can be escaped inside quo
+tes
                $Data{$obj}{$name} = $1;
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G[{]/gc ) {
                parseListObject( $svCode, $obj, $name );
            } elsif( $$svCode =~ /\G\z/gc ) {
                fail( $svCode, "Missing '}' at end of object '$obj'" )
+;
            } else {
                fail( $svCode, "Unsupported value for '$obj'.'$name'" 
+);
            }
            expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after '$obj'.'$name'" );
        }
        expect( $svCode, ';', "';' after object '$obj'" );
    }

__END__
/* SOME COMMENT HERE */
/* MORE COMMENT */
/* Description - information */
options {
        option1 value;
        option2 value;
        option3 "value";
        option4 { value1; value2; };
};

/*
identifier1
 ID 123456
*/

object "identifier1" in {
        option1 value;
        option2 "value";
        option3 { value1; value2; };
        option4 { value; };

};

/*
identifier2
 ID 234561
*/

object "identifier2" in {
        option1 value;
        option2 "value";
        option3 { value1; value2; };
        option4 { value; };

};

/*
identifier3
 ID 345612
*/

object "identifier3" in {
        option1 value;
        option2 "value";
        option3 { value1; value2; };
        option4 { value; };

};

/* EOF */
[download]

And it even runs:

$VAR1 = {
    '' => {
        'option1' => 'value',
        'option2' => 'value',
        'option3' => 'value',
        'option4' => [ 'value1', 'value2' ],
    },
    'identifier1' => {
        'option1' => 'value',
        'option2' => 'value',
        'option3' => [ 'value1', 'value2' ],
        'option4' => [ 'value' ],
    },
    'identifier2' => {
        'option1' => 'value',
        'option2' => 'value',
        'option3' => [ 'value1', 'value2' ],
        'option4' => [ 'value' ],
    },
    'identifier3' => {
        'option1' => 'value',
        'option2' => 'value',
        'option3' => [ 'value1', 'value2' ],
        'option4' => [ 'value' ],
    },
};
[download]

#!/usr/bin/perl

# http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=1175466

use strict;
use warnings;

$_ = do { local $/; <DATA> };

print $1 while /^(object.*?^\};\n)/gms;

__DATA__
/* SOME COMMENT HERE */
/* MORE COMMENT */
/* Description - information */
options {
    option1 value;
    option2 value;
    option3 "value";
    option4 { value1; value2; };
};

/*
identifier1
 ID 123456
*/

object "identifier1" in {
    option1 value;
    option2 "value";
    option3 { value1; value2; };
    option4    { value; };

};

/*
identifier2
 ID 234561
*/

object "identifier2" in {
    option1 value;
    option2 "value";
    option3 { value1; value2; };
    option4    { value; };

};

/*
identifier3
 ID 345612
*/

object "identifier3" in {
    option1 value;
    option2 "value";
    option3 { value1; value2; };
    option4    { value; };

};

/* EOF */
[download]

... I can't guarantee the availability of any non-core modules on whatever system this ends up running on.

It's also useful to know if some minimal Perl version can be expected or not. Ferinstance, version 5.10 adds a bunch of really neat regex extensions, e.g., the recursive  (?PARNO) pattern family.

It's also good to know if the format of the data is as strict as is suggested by your OPed example data; tybalt89's solution depends on the opening keyword and terminal delimiter of each
    object "identifier" in { ... };
group both desperately hugging the left margin, and any departure from this will sink you.

Good points.

For version, 5.10 appears to be the likely minimum - likely enough that anyone stuck with something earlier can be safely told they're on their own.

The data is, in fact, that strict. If it's not, there are likely bigger problems at work.

Many thanks!


What part of v_e = sqrt(2GM/r) don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

Also be aware that the list of core modules can vary between versions. I've never personally encountered a problem with this; however, if it is an issue for you, you can specify a range of valid versions with use and no.

Version too old:

$ perl -v | head -2 | tail -1
This is perl 5, version 18, subversion 0 (v5.18.0) built for darwin-th
+read-multi-2level
$ perl -e 'use 5.020; no 5.024'
Perl v5.20.0 required--this is only v5.18.0, stopped at -e line 1.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at -e line 1.
$
[download]

Version too new:

$ perl -v | head -2 | tail -1
This is perl 5, version 24, subversion 0 (v5.24.0) built for darwin-th
+read-multi-2level
$ perl -e 'use 5.020; no 5.024'
Perls since v5.24.0 too modern--this is v5.24.0, stopped at -e line 1.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at -e line 1.
$
[download]

Version just right (Goldilocks zone):

$ perl -v | head -2 | tail -1
This is perl 5, version 22, subversion 0 (v5.22.0) built for darwin-th
+read-multi-2level
$ perl -e 'use 5.020; no 5.024'
$
[download]

— Ken

You guys are awesome!