#file1 #version1.1 #columns with the information as follows state1 class1 report_version_1.1 9428 4567 . . call=1;times=5;toss=head->tail;sno=A1B1;effect=positive state1 class1 report_version_1.1 3862 4877 . . call=1;times=5;toss=head->tail;sno=A1B2;effect=negative state1 class1 report_version_1.1 2376 4567 . . call=1;times=5;toss=head->tail;sno=;effect=positive state2 class1 report_version_1.1 4378 2345 . . call=1;times=5;toss=tail->tail;sno=A1B3;effect=positive,negative, both state2 class1 report_version_1.1 1289 4835 . . call=1;times=5;toss=head->tail;sno=;effect=positive #### #!usr/bin/perl use warnings; #inputfile my $input_file = "/Users/myfolder/myfile.txt"; die "Cannot open $input_file \n" unless (open(IN, $input_file)); #open file my @LINES =; #output file #Open output file and write the needed results die "output1.txt" unless(open( OUT,"> output1.txt")); my @infos; while(){ my @fields = split ';', $_; my $state = $fields[1]; my $class1 = $fields[2]; my $report_version_1.1 = $fields[3]; my $value1 = $fields[4]; my $value2 = $fields[5]; my $dot1 = $fields[6]; my $dot2 = $fields[7]; my $info = $fields[8]; if ( $fields[8] =~ /^[sno]/ =~ /^[sno]/ ) { push @infos, $_; print OUT " $state\ $class\ $report_version_1.1\ $value1\ $value2\ $dot1 \ $dot2 \ $info\n"; } } exit;