use warnings; use strict; my $muh = "10-22-03 10:04AM 3815 bitte_lesen.txt05-30-06 02:36PM database04-06-05 01:53PM 68924 desk.JPG05-07-05 05:07PM 159808 KNAPP.JPG05-01-06 12:52AM logfiles02-08-06 10:14PM public_html12-19-05 01:01AM stats"; for my $file ( $muh =~ /\s*([\w.-]+)/g ) { $file =~ s/\d\d-\d\d-\d\d$//; print "$file\n"; }