#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my @lines = ( 'Bob Smith bsmith 00001234567 01/01/1986 00:00:00', 'Mary Ann Doe mdoe 00001234568 01/01/1986 00:00:00 00001234563 01/01/1986 00:00:00', 'Gilligan Q Smith gsmith 00001234569 01/01/1986 00:00:00'); foreach my $line (@lines) { $line =~ s/(\s[a-z]+\s0{4})/,$1/g; print "New line:\n'$line'\n"; }