I did end up changing the code, separating out the common stuff by making pre-tests before all that, so it was even more uniform.

> The short amount of code and large about of local variables involved makes that awkward.

why?

for ( 1..2,"a".."b") {
  ifnum();
  ifchar();
  print "\n"
}
 
sub ifnum {
  if    (/1/) { print } 
  elsif (/2/) { print }
  else        { return }
  print " is number";
}
 
sub ifchar {
  print && goto CONT if /a/;
  print && goto CONT if /b/;
  return;
 CONT:
  print " is character";
}
[download]

OUTPUT:

1 is number
2 is number
a is character
b is character
[download]

Cheers Rolf

UPDATE: changed ifnum() to elsif-clauses.

see also: Re: given/when one case prefixes another