# firstly, i'm gonna use the working directory, for laziness' sake! lo
+l
# secondly, i haven't thoroughtly tested this.  'sub external_files($$
+)' is tested, and does work according to my tests
# i'm working in a windows 10 environment, apache24 and activestate's 
+perl 5.020002 (i think that version # is right)
#
# thridly, this script assumes all the files in the folder are named w
+ith .xxx where each x is a digit 0..9
# fourth, this will do no error checking! it will work perfect, so lon
+g as you adhere to the file extension convention
# fifth, and finally, i have not tested this code

##############################
# i copied this from a project i'm working on
# yes.  i use prototypes.  SUE me!
sub external_files($;$) {
  #*
  # lists files within a specified folder (eg: config, txt)
  # folders will not be included in this list - just the filenames onl
+y
  # if no type is provided, *.* is assumed
  # type should be just "png" or "txt", no need to include a leading d
+ot
  #*
  my ($folder, $type) = @_; # a location (eg: users), relative to web 
+root && a file type

  if ($type) {
    # the following is just in case the user of this
    # subroutine ignores instructions (mainly me lol)
    $type =~ s/(\*)*//g; # remove stars
    $type =~ s/(\.)*//; # remove dots
    $type =~ s/\///g; # remove forward slashes
    if ($type) { $type = ".$type"; }
  }

  if ($folder) {
    # same idea here as for $type
    # this one, however, may seem weird, but i've
    # found it better to account for all possibilities
    # rather than leave it up to the user of this
    # code to ensure correct params are given
    #
    # besides, i tend to forget to follow my own
    # instructions, so this saves me tons of head
    # scratching, see?
    $folder =~ s/(\/)*$//; # remove trailing /'s
    $folder =~ s/^(\/)*//; # remove leading /'s
    $folder =~ s/\/\//\//g; # convert //'s to /
    $folder .= "/"; # attach trailing /*
  }

  my @fixed;
  my $filespec = $folder . "*" . $type;

  my @dirs = glob($filespec);
  $folder =~ s/\./\\./g;
  $folder =~ s/\//\\\//g;
  foreach my $dir (@dirs) {
    if (-f $dir) {
      $dir =~ s/$folder//;
      push (@fixed, $dir);
    }
  }

  return @fixed; # an array
  #usage: my @fileList = external_files("D:/", "txt");
} # end of sub external_files($$);

#sub get_last($) { # you could uncomment this line...and turn the foll
+owing into a sub!
#my ($folder) = @_; # and yes, i do this, too!  again, sue me (i belie
+ve wholeheartedly, and pedantically so, in the K.I.S.S concept)

# my @files = external_files($folder); # i'll leave it up to you to ma
+ke sure $folder is a valid location, but give it whatever you like, r
+eally
my @files = external_files("d:/myNumberedFiles");
# @ files should now contain all yer files stored in d:/myNumberedFile
+s/
# now, you want the file with an extension that works out to being the
+ highest #?
# easy!

# first, i'm gonna rip through the list, and build a new one.
# the new one will contain just the extension with no dots.
# leading zeros will be removed from the extension.  this should
# result in a list with elements that are just numbers.
# then, i'm gonna sort the bugger, and pit out the last element.

my @exts = ();

foreach my $file (@files) {
  $file =~ s/^(.)*\.(0)*//; # remove everything before and including t
+he dot and any leading zeros after the dot
  # now, pop that into your list
  push @exts, $file;
}

# now sort the list!
sort @exts;

print $exts[$#exts];
#return $exts[$#exts];
#}

# and you have yer answer...
#you could drop the above "main" code into a sub of it's own, too, of 
+course.
#just uncomment the #sub... line and the line after it, and the #retur
+n and #} lines at the bottom
[download]

i hope this one works, and doesn't get too butchered by the rest of the monks here :D i like to think i'm pretty decent at this coding thing, so, go easy on me. i'm 100% self taught, and i have no personal group of PERL programmers in my midst - i'm alone, and i'm a one man band.

sincerely,