while () { # set modification flag to 0 my $do_mod = 0; if ($do_mod) { # if modification flag is true (>0) # apply substitution if matches s/priority/bandwidth/g; # if line is empty, clear modification flag $do_mod = 0 if (/^$/); } else { # Found first priority, mark modification flag true $do_mod++ if (/priority/); } print; }