title: How to read multi-line values from a file using Perl
body: <p>I have a properties file, say</p>
  
  <pre><code>##
  ## Start of property1
  ##
  ##
  Property1=\
  a:b,\
  a1:b1,\
  a2,b2
  ##
  ## Start of propert2
  ##
  Property2=\
  c:d,\
  c1:d1,\
  c2,d2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Note that the value for any given property may be split across multiple lines.</p>
  
  <p>I want to read this property file using Perl. This works fine in Java, as Java supports multi-line values using the backslash, but in Perl it is a nightmare.</p>
  
  <p>In the above properties file there are two properties - <code>Property1</code> and <code>Property2</code> - each associated with a string which I can split based on the delimiters <code>,</code> and <code>:</code></p>
  
  <p>For a given property (say <code>Property1</code>) and given column (say <code>a1</code>) I need to return second column (here <code>b1</code>)</p>
  
  <p>The code should be able to ignore comments, spaces, etc.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in Advance</p>