#!/usr/bin/perl -w use Parse::RecDescent; use Data::Dumper; my $grammar = q{ s_expr: '(' s_expr(s) ')' # NESTED S-EXPRS { $return = $item[2] } | /" [^\\"]* (\\. [^\\"]*)* "/x # STRINGS | /[^()\s]+/ # ANYTHING ELSE }; my $parser = Parse::RecDescent->new($grammar) or die; undef $/; my $data = ; my $nested_array = $parser->s_expr($data); print Data::Dumper->Dump($nested_array); __DATA__ (net (rename VDDTX "vddtx") (joined (portRef VDDTX) (portRef &2 (instanceRef I_45_1102680350))) (figure WIRE (path (pointList (pt 6700 -2100) (pt 6900 -2100))) (path (pointList (pt 6900 -2100) (pt 6900 -2500))))) (net (rename N00023 "N00023") (joined (portRef &2 (instanceRef I_45_1215476478)) (portRef &1 (instanceRef I_45_1102680350)) (portRef &2 (instanceRef I_45_1215470655))) (figure WIRE (path (pointList (pt 5800 -3400) (pt 6900 -3400))) (path (pointList (pt 5800 -3400) (pt 5800 -3700))) (path (pointList (pt 6900 -3100) (pt 6900 -3400))) (path (pointList (pt 8000 -3400) (pt 8000 -3700))) (path (pointList (pt 6900 -3400) (pt 8000 -3400)))) (instance (rename TIE1 "TIE1") (viewRef XTIE0A2Y2 (cellRef XTIE0A2Y2 (libraryRef RIPPER_LIBRARY))) (transform (origin (pt 6900 -3400)))))