$ver = $ver +1;
$command =~ s/<PATCH NUMBER>/$ver/;

#can be rewritten as:
$command =~ s/<PATCH NUMBER>/++$ver/e;

##</code><code>##

if ($command =~ /<VER NUMBER> /)
{
  $command =~ s/<VER NUMBER>/$ver/;
}
elsif ($command =~ /<VER NUMBER + 1> /)
{
   $ver = $ver +1;
   $command =~ s/<PATCH NUMBER>/$ver/;
}

##</code><code>##

if ($command =~ /<VER\s+NUMBER>\s/)
{
  $command =~ s/<VER\s+NUMBER>/$ver/;
}
elsif ($command =~ /<VER\s+NUMBER\s+\+\s+1>\s/)
{
   $ver = $ver +1;
   $command =~ s/<PATCH\s+NUMBER>/$ver/;
}