use strict;
my $str = '543.210.987.654.321
43.210.987.654.321
987.654...321
87.654...321
7.654...321
654....321
54....321
4....321
....321
21
1
';
my $regex = qr/(?:^\.+|(\.)\.+)/mp;
my $subst = '$1';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
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 Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html