Hi, According to http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.8.0/pod/perlvar.html , there's another way to call "$.": <blockquote> You can also use HANDLE->input_line_number(EXPR) to access the line counter for a given filehandle without having to worry about which handle you last accessed. </blockquote> Which is just fine- but what's EXPR supposed to be? -- Offer Kaye