use strict; use warnings; $/ = "\n\n"; while ( ) { if( my( $number ) = m/(\d+)/ ) { s/\b\p{Alpha}+\b/$number/g; } else { warn "Malformed record in input line $.\n$_\nContinuing.\n"; } print; } __DATA__ 0 ASDF ASEE ASEE 13 DERG DREG 28 QWER QWER 42 WERT WERT WERT 55 QWEASD QWEASD QWEASD QWEASD #### 0 0 0 0 13 13 13 28 28 28 42 42 42 42 55 55 55 55 55