#!perl use warnings; use strict; while () { if ($_ =~ /^MONKS/ .. /}/) { #Range/flip-flop operator s/,2329,/,9999,/; } print; } __DATA__ LOSER () { echo "insert into monks values ('$1',sysdate,null,null,null,'OP',null, +'$8',23,$3);" >> $OPTHREE } MONKS () { echo "insert into monks values ('$1',sysdate,null,null,null,'OP',null +'$8',2329,$3);" >> $OPTHREE } TEST () { echo "insert into monks values ('$1',sysdate,null,null,null,'OP',null, +'$8','$5',9,$2,$4,$3);" >> $OPTHREE # the following line should remain unchanged echo "insert into monks values ('$1',sysdate,null,null,null,'OP',null, +'$8',2329,$3);" >> $OPTHREE }