my $checker1 = ""; my $checker2 = ""; my $i = 0; while ($i < 50) { $i++ ; $text1 =~ s/<\?align \"ac(\d+)\"\?>/XXXYYYXXX/ ; $checker1 = $& ; $checker2 = $1 ; if ($text2 =~ ?${checker1}?) { $text1 =~ s/XXXYYYXXX/<\?ZZZZalign \"ad${checker2}\"\?>/ ; $text2 =~ s/${checker1}/<\?ZZZZalign \"ad${checker2}\"\?>/ ; } else {$text1 =~ s/XXXYYYXXX/yyy${checker2}yyy/} }