# instead of ... 
        else
        {
            $connectionText.=$fnum.",".$snum."|";
        }
        $connectionText=~s/,,/,/g;
        $connectionText=~s/,\|/\|/g;
# how about ... 
        else
        {
            my $pair = join ',', grep { defined } ( $fnum, $snum );
            $connectiontext .= $pair . '|';
        }