Change this line

$line =~ s/^\*(.*)/!$1/ and print $line and next if $line;
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to

print("!" . substr($line, 1)) and next if index($line, '*') == 0;
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And what purpose does the if modifier serve after some of your substitutions (and I guess the spurious open is a mis-paste)? I wonder what was wrong with the code examples in your previous node?
HTH

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broquaint