perl -e'(print "capture: ".($_=~/(TFId=(?:,?(?:\d+|nil))*)/)[0]."\n") while <>' TFId=1 capture: TFId=1 TFId=, capture: TFId= TFId=1, capture: TFId=1 TFId=1,,,2 capture: TFId=1 TFId=nilnilnil capture: TFId=nilnilnil