#!/usr/bin/perl $extension = '.orig'; LINE: while (<>) { if ($ARGV ne $oldargv) { if ($extension !~ /\*/) { $backup = $ARGV . $extension; } else { ($backup = $extension) =~ s/\*/$ARGV/g; } rename($ARGV, $backup); open(ARGVOUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGVOUT); $oldargv = $ARGV; } s/foo/bar/; } continue { print; # this prints to original filename } select(STDOUT);