use strict;
my $str = '<dox>
\' <member type="Public Sub" name="Increment" return="void">
\' <param type="Integer" name="nBase" out="true" />
\' <param type="Integer" name="nStep" out="false" />
\' <purpose>
\' purpose here...
\' </purpose>
\' </member>
\' <member ... />
\'</dox>';
my $regex = qr/^'\s*/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