=-> cat test.pl my($plaintext,$html); $plaintext = ">> foo"; pipe(READ, WRITE); print "about to open\n"; open WRITE, "| cat"; print WRITE $plaintext; print "\njust wrote\n"; close WRITE; print "\nclosed\n"; { local $/; $html = ; } close READ; print "\njust read\n"; print "\$html: $html\n" =-> perl test.pl about to open just wrote >> foo closed just read $html: