$_ = 'FDR [62.10060.051-F] [62.10051.381] [this includes spaces!] 0 1 0'; ($nobrackets = $_) =~ s/(\[|\])//g; @feeder_line = split ' ', $nobrackets; $\ = "\n"; print for @feeder_line; __END__ FDR 62.10060.051-F 62.10051.381 this includes spaces! 0 1 0