http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=1019694


in reply to Re: how do I run an external command
in thread [solved] how do I run an external command

thank you all, ESPECIALLY ree, many smilies to you in thanks

from reading the link to the perlhowto site and puzzleing for quite a while as to why it didn't work as it says it should 'the penny dropped'.

I had origonally been using ' (on the key with ") amongst the character sets I had tested and not ` (on the key with ~).

Final code in case anyone else comes across the need is,

$package_category = `./support/find_cat $package_name $package_description` ;

And a note to parser, down here in australia, Perl is taken to mean something like, she's a beaut shella or great campsite or tasty thirst quenching drink (usually beer), definately not a programming language! Sorry!

a final thanks to all :-)