#!/usr/bin/perl -w 
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
my $line="this---is---Sparta!";

#
# Case 1 a line with *fields* seperated by dashes
my @f=split('---',$line);  #split the line along the dashes

print Dumper(\@f);

# Case 2   Records seperated by three dashes
my $oldIFS=$/; #save the old IFS

$/ = undef;    # make it undefined
$line=<DATA>;  # slurp in file
$/=$oldIFS;    # restore IFS

@f = split('---',$line); # split on dashes
$_ =~ s/^\n// foreach @f; # remove leading EOL
chomp (@f); # remove traiing EOL

print Dumper(\@f);


exit(0);   # we're done, going home
__END__
line1
---
line2
---
line3