First of all, the code you've given us shouldn't even compile as Perl. I would suggest the following: 
$INVALID_STRING = quotemeta q<!"$\%&'()*/@`~>;
$STRING_TO_EXECUTE = "java myprogram -opt1 ABC -opt2 $INVALID_STRING";

[download]
Or, better yet, use open() instead.
_____________________________________________________
Jeff japhy Pinyan, P.L., P.M., P.O.D, X.S.: Perl, regex, and perl hacker
How can we ever be the sold short or the cheated, we who for every service have long ago been overpaid? ~~ Meister Eckhart

In reply to Re: Error using back tick operators if it has special perl chars in it by japhy
in thread Error using back tick operators if it has special perl chars in it by Anonymous Monk

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