# $rec = " 2425 S 25 \" 6 47! 86 18 21! 87 23 23! - -! - -! 96"; use Data::Dumper; $infile = "2425-pmpk.txt"; open(INFILE, $infile) || die("cant on $infile\n$!\n"); while ($rec = ) { chomp($rec); next unless ($rec =~ /S 25/); $rec =~ s/^\s+//; # remove lead/trail spaces $rec =~ s/\s+$//; # DOESN'T WORK (@junk, $ads) = (split(/\s+/, $rec)); # WORKS OK # (@junk) = (split(/\s+/, $rec)); # $ads = @junk[-1]; # WORKS OK # (@junk) = (split(/\s+/, $rec)); # $idx = $#junk; # $ads = $junk[$idx]; # WORKS OK ... BUT AT THE WRONG END OF THE ARRAY # ($ads, @junk) = (split(/\s+/, $rec)); print Dumper(@junk); printf("$rec\n"); printf("%d\n", $ads); } close(INFILE);