Im not sure i understand your question correctly, but i think changing the line

 s/$oldline/$newline/;                        # doesn't work

to

 s/\Q$oldline\E/$newline/;

may help u here.

See quotemeta

In reply to Re: how to read in a line containing exponentials by suhailck
in thread how to read in a line containing exponentials by pattobw

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