note merlyn I'm not sure if it's documented except indirectly but <c>$!</c> is never supposed to be reset on success, only set on failure. That's because it mimics the underlying <c>errno</c> variable in libc, and that's the way it works. <p> Thus, never look at $! unless you know the thing you just did caused an error from which you need details. <!-- Node text goes above. Div tags should contain sig only --> <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-9073"> <p>-- [http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/|Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker] <br> Be sure to read [id://205373|my standard disclaimer] if this is a reply.</p> </div></div> 575380 575380