use strict;
my $str = ' 1 test1
2 test2
5 test5
6 test1
7 test2
8 test3
9 test4
10 test5
11 test1
12 test2
13 test3
14 test4
15 test5
1 test1
2 test2
5 test5
6 test1
7 test2
8 test3
9 test4
10 test5
11 test1
12 test2
13 test3
14 test4
14 test4
14 test4
15 test5';
my $regex = qr/test2(?:\n.*test[234])*?\n.*test4/mp;
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