String hw = new String("<TASK>\n <UID>21</UID>\n <Name>Architectural design</Name>\n <PercentComplete>81</PercentComplete>\n</TASK>");
String pattern = new String ("(<UID>21</UID>)((.|\n)*?)(<PercentComplete>)(\\d+)(</PercentComplete>)");
String replaceSpec = new String ("$1$2$440$6");
// Note that the group (<PercentComplete>) is $4 and the group ((.|\n)*?) is $2.
String iw = hw.replaceFirst(pattern, replaceSpec);
System.out.println(iw);
<TASK>
<UID>21</UID>
<Name>Architectural design</Name>
<PercentComplete>40</PercentComplete>
</TASK>