my $stra = '0157953'; my $strb = 'abcyefzaa'; (my $new = $strb) =~ s/([yz])|./ (defined($1) ? 'I' : ($stra =~ m{(.)}sgc ? $1 : die ) ) /seg; print("$new\n"); # 015I79I53 #### my $stra = '0157953'; my $strb = 'abcyefzaa'; my $new = ''; while ($strb =~ /([yz])|./sg) { $new .= (defined($1) ? 'I' : ($stra =~ /(.)/sgc ? $1 : die ) ); } print("$new\n"); # 015I79I53