$text = "test of  this # ? my 0923 5834t674";
.... .. .......... . . .. .... ........

##</code><code>##

if ($text =~ $nbsp) {
$text =~ s/(.*)$nbsp(.*)//g;	# ( ) PUTS TEXT INTO $1, $2, etc.
$tex1 = $1;	# WHAT COMES BEFORE THE PRE TAG
$tex2 = $2;	# WHAT COMES AFTER
$tex1 =~ s/[^ ]/$repl/g;	# BLANK OUT, EXCLUDING SPACES
$tex2 =~ s/[^ ]/$repl/g;
$text = "$tex1$nbsp$tex2";
}
else	{
$text =~ s/[^ ]/$repl/g;
}
print "$text\n";