use strict;
my $str = 'remove 1 from .1.
XYZ is a student.2. XYZ is a boy.3. XYZ is smart.
This is a test value 1.1.
127.0.0.1';
my $regex = qr/(?<!\d)\s*\.\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