> Straightforward but inelegant: > > s/<!--(\$[a-zA-Z_]\w*)-->/$$1/g; > > This treats the value of $1 as a symbolic reference to another variable. better to do: s/<!--\$([a-zA-Z_]\w*)-->/${$1}/g; Unless you use strict, where you would have to use Ken William's suggestion: s/<!--(.*?)-->/$1/eeg; -K # ===== Want to unsubscribe from this list? # ===== Send mail with body "unsubscribe" to macperl-request@macperl.org