note Ionitor Just a few comments on the code: <code>if(<IN>=~m/(^#!+?perl+?)/){ $out.=$1; } </code> First, this appears to try to remove the first line if it isn't a perl shebang line. If you're trying to remove a blank line at the beginning, testing for whitespace would probably be easier and safer. However, if you really want to discard any 1st line that isn't a perl shebang, there's a couple problems with your regex. The pattern <code>+?</code> causes minimal matching of at least one character, where the character matched is immediately before the <code>+?</code>. In other words, here are a few things your regex will match: <code>#!perl #!!!!!!!perlllllll #!perl -w </code> In the last case, <code>#!perl</code> is the only thing captured by the parens in the regex. Note that your code will not match <code>#!/usr/bin/perl</code>. What you probably want is: <code>if(<IN>=~m/(^#!.*?perl.+)/){ $out.="$1\n"; } </code> This way, your code will match and capture <code>#!perl</code> (used often in Windows programs, esp. by Activestate), <code>#!/usr/bin/perl</code>, and <code>#!/usr/bin/perl -w</code>. Additionally, the new line that the period does not capture will be added back on, without a ^M. Update: That should be: <code>if(<IN>=~m/(^#!.*?perl.*)/){ $out.="$1\n"; </code> Forgot to replace the other "+". 183567 183567