use strict;
my $str = '{\\rtf1\\ansi\\ansicpg1252
\\deff0{\\fonttbl{\\f0\\froman\\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\\f1\\froman\\fcharset0 HELVETICA;}{\\f2\\froman\\fcharset0 Arial;}{\\f3\\froman\\fcharset0 unknown;}{\\f4\\froman\\fcharset0 HELVETICA-BOLD;}{\\f5\\froman\\fcharset0 Helvetica;}}
{\\colortbl\\red0\\green0\\blue0;\\red255\\green255\\blue255;\\red244\\green245\\blue255;\\red254\\green182\\blue230;\\red0\\green0\\blue255;}
{\\stylesheet
{\\style\\s0 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs24\\cf0 Normal;}
{\\style\\s3 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs26\\b\\cf0 heading 3;}
{\\style\\s2 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs28\\b\\i\\cf0 heading 2;}
{\\style\\s1 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs32\\b\\cf0 heading 1;}
}
{\\*\\listtable
{\\style\\s0 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs24\\cf0 Normal;}
{\\style\\s3 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs26\\b\\cf0 heading 3;}
{\\style\\s2 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs28\\b\\i\\cf0 heading 2;}
{\\style\\s1 \\ql\\fi0\\li0\\ri0\\f2\\fs32\\b\\cf0 heading 1;}
}
{\\*\\listtable
}
{\\*\\listoverridetable
}
{\\*\\generator iText 2.1.2 (by lowagie.com)}
{\\info}';
my $regex = qr/\{\\rtf1\\ansi\\ansicpg1252(?:.|[\r\n]+)*\{\\\*\\listtable/p;
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