# $code received into system via a SOAP interface...

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:urn="urn:Whatever">
   <soapenv:Header>
      <urn:AuthHeader>
         <Customer>TopDog</Customer>
         <Username>Underdog</Username>
            <passwordString>S$ummer£!01</passwordString>
.
.
.

# perl example fragment

my $control = q(S$ummer£!01);

if ( $control eq $code ) { warn("+++ $name: strings DO match\n"); }
if ( $control lt $code ) { warn("+++ $name: control lt code\n"); }
if ( $control gt $code ) { warn("+++ $name: control gt code\n"); }

returns

+++ _password_matcher: control gt code