re = /^proc _*(.*?)_*\*/m
str = 'proc foo*() =
discard
proc foo_*() =
discard
proc foo__*() =
discard
proc __foo*() =
discard
proc __foo__*() =
discard
proc foo_bar_*() =
discard
proc foo_bar*() =
discard
proc _foo_bar_*() =
discard'
subst = 'proc $1*'
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