use strict;
my $str = ' <file>
<fileType>Mezza</fileType>
<fileName></fileName>
<any_other_tag></any_other_tag>
<any_other_tag> </any_other_tag>
<segments>0000</segments>
</file>';
my $regex = qr/(>)()(<\/)/sp;
my $subst = '\\1[!] value does not exist!\\3';
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