note toolic <blockquote><i> if ($this_line =~ /<DATA>/) { </i></blockquote> Are you trying to read from the special <c>DATA</c> handle, or are you trying to match the exact string <c><DATA></c>? [doc://re] indicates you are doing the latter: <c> perl -Mre=debug mycode.pl Compiling REx "<DATA>" Final program: 1: EXACT <<DATA>> (4) 4: END (0) anchored "<DATA>" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 6 Error opening file - No such file or directory Freeing REx: "<DATA>" </c> 1005485 1005485