binmode STDOUT, ':utf8';
my $strA = "Bob\x{B4}s files";
use Encode;
my $strB = Encode::decode_utf8("Bob\xC2\xB4s files");

say "strA is $strA";
say "strA is $strB";
say "strings are " . (($strA eq $strB) ? "eq" : "not eq");
say "strA flag is: ".Encode::is_utf8($strA);
say "strB flag is: ".Encode::is_utf8($strB);

##</code><code>##

  if (!Encode::is_utf8($str) && $str =~ m/\x80-\xff/) {
    $str = Encode::encode_utf8($str); # Get utf8 byte seq
    Encode::_utf8_on($str);           # and flip the flag
  }