Further to the above:

%search (
  R1 => "/^\s+\(Text [aA].* (\d+:\d+ .*$)/",
  R2 => .....
);
$replace (
  R1 => "/\.T1 \"$1/",
  R2 => .....
);

while <VRUN>   {   

  foreach $rule ( keys %search )  {

    s/$search{$rule}/$replace{$rule}/g;

  }
}
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My only concern is the substring match in R1/S1. Can I use qr// to make this more efficient, and if so, what is the correct syntax. Would qr// be required on both sides of the s// ? Do i need to use an eval or an /ee modifier to get the substitution to happen ? Thanks again all you p'gurus for your help on this :)