#!/usr/bin/perl $filecount=1; open OUT, ">output." . $filecount; while (<>) { if ($_=~/^$/) { $blankcount++; if ($blankcount==4) { print STDERR "New section found, opening output." . $filecount; close OUT; $blankcount=0; $filecount++; open OUT, ">output." . $filecount; } } else { print OUT $_; } } close OUT;