Or using split with a 3rd argument of -1 to prevent it from dropping null elements and map to substitute the 'NULL's. 

print join':', map{ $_ eq '' ? 'NULL' : $_} split ':', 'root:XXXXXXXXX
+XXXX:12103::::::',-1;

root:XXXXXXXXXXXXX:12103:NULL:NULL:NULL:NULL:NULL:NULL

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In reply to Re: Perl subsititution oddities... by BrowserUk
in thread Perl subsititution oddities... by smellysocks

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