Let's say a file, array, or hash array contains the following.

Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5

The .. characters are used to do something on a range of lines inside of a loop. In this example, everything between "Line 2" through "Line 4" is printed.

my $file = "/path/to/file.txt";
open(FH, '<', "$file") or die "cannot open $file $! \n";

while (my $line = <FH>) {
  if ($line =~ /Line 2/ .. $line =~ /Line 4/) { print $line; }
}

close FH;

This will produce the following result.

Line 2
Line 3
Line 4

To print everything except Lines 2 through Line 4, use unless instead of if.

my $file = "/path/to/file.txt";
open(FH, '<', "$file") or die "cannot open $file $! \n";

while (my $line = <FH>) {
  unless ($line =~ /Line 2/ .. $line =~ /Line 4/) { print $line; }
}

close FH;

This will produce the following result.

Line 1
Line 5

Let's say @array contains the following.

START
foo
END
START
bar
END

And you have the following if statement.

foreach my $line (@array) {
  if ($line =~ /START/ .. $line =~ /END/) { 
    print $line; 
  }
}

This will print everything for the first match of "START" to the last match of "END". In this example, the following would be printed.

START
foo
END
START
bar
END

To limit range to get the first match of "START" to the first match of "END", add the following last if statement.

foreach my $line (@array) {
  if ($line =~ /START/ .. $line =~ /END/) { 
    print $line; 
    last if $line =~ /END/;
  }
}

Now, the following will be returned.

START
foo
END