# Read through file/data one line at a time. while () { # Remove newline from end of line (actually not necessary for your input). chomp; # If a line ends with '{', use a regular expression (REGEX) to capture # the relevant portion by having that portion surrounded by parentheses. # Push the captured string (contained within the variable '$1', since it # is the first captured string) onto the end of the array '@current command'. # This REGEX matches: # the beginning of the line: ^ # 0 or more spaces: \s* # 1 or more of anything (captured because it is in parentheses): (.+) # 1 space followed by 1 {: \s{ # the end of the line: $ push @current_command, $1 if /^\s*(.+)\s{$/; # If a line ends with ';', use a REGEX to capture the relevant portion, # then print out the contents of the array followed by the string you # just captured and assigned to '$last_term'. if (/^\s*(.+);$/) { my $last_term = $1; say "set @current_command $last_term"; } # If a line ends with '}', that means we are moving up a level, so you # remove the last element of the array '@current_command'. pop @current_command if /}$/; }