It solves my issue but fails in the scenario when i have module this is in between OLD(A, B, Y); , i even want my script to change it to, module this is in between NEW(A, B, Y); hence i tried doing this (?<=module .*)$ARGV2.*?(\\(;)"; which doesnt work and shell says Variable length lookbehind not implemented in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/(?<=module .*)NEW.*?(\(;) <-- HERE / at script.pl line 23.. How can i implement this?