http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=361536

use strict; my @in = ("#set a koekoek\n","#set b vogel\n","#set c bird\n","#set d arend\n","#set e vulture\n"); map { $_ =~ s/^#set c .*/#set x exbird/; $_ =~ s/^#set a .*/#set y exkoekoek/; } @in; print "@in\n";