just 'cuz I have time today ... here is what the real code should be...

use strict;

my $var1 = 'a+b';
my $var2 = 'a+b';
if ($var1 =~ /$var2/) {
    print "hey it matches \n";
}

print "hey here  \n";
[download]

the posts above already said why it isnt working ... but now you have code that will actaully work (that is like yours).

- f o o g o d

--- ruining the bell curve for everyone else ---