my $version= shift;
    if(  "0" eq ( $version ^ $version )  ) {
        # $version already has a numeric value
    } else {
        # $version is _only_ a string
    }

##</code><code>##

    if (!SvNIOK(sv) && SvPOK(sv)) {
        # ...
    }
    /* if we get here, we're looking for a numeric comparison,