re = /(?<!")((zombiePartyGirl)|(zombieArlene))((Feral)|(Radiated))?(?!")/mi
str = '<entitygroups>
<entitygroup name="ZombiesAll">
zombieBoe
zombieJoe
zombieSteve
zombieTomClark
zombieMoe
zombieYo
zombieBusinessMan
zombieArlene
zombieDarlene
zombieMarlene
zombieSkateboarder
zombieBiker, .3
zombiePartyGirl, .3
zombieUtilityWorker, .3
zombieJanitor, .2
zombieNurse, .3
zombieSteveCrawler
zombieFatHawaiian, .3
</entitygroup>
<!-- *** POI_INDIVIDUAL_ENTITY_GROUPS -->
<entitygroup name="zombieArlene">zombieArlene</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombieArleneFeral">zombieArleneFeral</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombieArleneRadiated">zombieArleneRadiated</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombieMarlene">zombieMarlene</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombieMarleneFeral">zombieMarleneFeral</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombieMarleneRadiated">zombieMarleneRadiated</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombiePartyGirl">zombiePartyGirl</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombiePartyGirlFeral">zombiePartyGirlFeral</entitygroup>
<entitygroup name="zombiePartyGirlRadiated">zombiePartyGirlRadiated</entitygroup>
</entitygroups>'
subst = 'zombieLab$4'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html