use strict;
my $str = '7+6+-7
6 - -12
-12 - -11
1--2
-1--2
4*-5
-4/-4';
my $regex = qr/(?<!\d)-(?=\d)/mp;
my $subst = '~';
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