# usage: line_with_index(*DATA_HANDLE, *INDEX_HANDLE, $LINE_NUMBER) # returns line or undef if LINE_NUMBER was out of range sub line_with_index { my $data_file = shift; my $index_file = shift; my $line_number = shift; my $size; # size of an index entry my $i_offset; # offset into the index of the entry my $entry; # index entry my $d_offset; # offset into the data file $size = length(pack("N", 0)); $i_offset = $size * ($line_number); print "size is $size offset is $i_offset\n"; seek($index_file, $i_offset, 0) or return; read($index_file, $entry, $size); $d_offset = unpack("N", $entry); seek($data_file, $d_offset, 0); return scalar(<$data_file>); }