#!/usr/bin/env perl -l use strict; use warnings; my $data_string = do { local $/; }; print "Before replacement: '$data_string'"; $data_string =~ y/\n/ /; print "After replacement: '$data_string'"; __DATA__ Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 #### Before replacement: 'Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 ' After replacement: 'Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 '