use strict;
my $str = 'any text 000 00 more texts" will become "any text ***** more texts"..notice that the space is removed
"any text 000 00 more texts 00" will become "any text ***** more texts 00"
"any text 000 00 more texts 00 00" will become "any text ***** more texts ****"
"any text 00-00 more texts 00_00" will become "any text **** more texts ****"';
my $regex = qr/(?=(?:\d|(?<=\d)[_\W]\d){4,5})\d|(?<=(?<!^)\G)\d|(?<=\d)[_\W]\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