use strict;
my $str = '<select id="c1:swfield" name="c1"><option value="--">> All Makes</option>
<option value="1167">Acura</option>
<option value="1173">Alfa Romeo</option>
<option value="1564">Smart</option>
<option value="1836">Speranza</option>
<option value="1566">Ssang Yong</option>
</select>
';
my $regex = qr/(?:<select id=\"c1:swfield\" name=\"c1\">.*?)?<option value=\".*?\">(.*?)<\/option>(?:<\/select>)?/smp;
if ( $str =~ /$regex/g ) {
print "Whole match is ${^MATCH} and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[0] and \$+[0]\n";
# print "Capture Group 1 is $1 and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[1] and \$+[1]\n";
# print "Capture Group 2 is $2 ... and so on\n";
}
# ${^POSTMATCH} and ${^PREMATCH} are also available with the use of '/p'
# Named capture groups can be called via $+{name}
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html