#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; $line = "(The)025738(Name)050138()\t(Date)114494(REAL)16594()\t( )022192338(1120)\t(You Are Here)\t( )\t(Date)014472571(today)\n"; $line =~ s/\)\w+\(/)(/g; # match on one or more word characters sandwiched between ) and ( print $line;