There are a few problems with the code you have posted (as noted by
others and which I won't repeat here). However, once all of those
little bugs are fixed you also might want to consider reworking the
logic of the code. Here is a cleaned up version of your code, largely
following your posted code in level and style (ie, not trying to add
anything beyond what you are already doing), but rearranging the
logic somewhat:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
# first initialize necessary variables:
my $err_msg = "Authorization Failed: please try again\n";
my $cusr = 'bob';
my $cpword = 'pass';
# next obtain the user's data:
my($usr, $pword);
print "What is your username? ";
$usr = <STDIN>;
chomp($usr);
print "Please enter your password:\n";
$pword=<STDIN>;
chomp($pword);
# now we can authenticate or die
unless ($usr eq $cusr and $pword eq $cpword) {
die $err_msg;
}
print "Authentication Complete!\n";
# authorized file processing may ensue:
my @lines;
my $file = 'memberlist.txt';
open (FILE, $file) || die "Can't open $file: $!";
while(<FILE>){
push @lines,$_;
}
close FILE;
# now do whatever with @lines.
print @lines;
__END__
I am not saying the above is optimal --- it can be shortened and
simplified further. But, we've now broken out the logic into 4
self contained tasks: 1)setting initial values, 2)obtaining user
authentication data, 3)perform the authentication or die with a
message, 4)read and otherwise process the file. In your original, those
last three tasks were all intermixed in the code rather than
proceeding logically from one stage to the next. This reordering not only
reduces the complexity of the code (no more nested conditionals), it
makes it easier to code and test section by section in the first
place --- which can greatly help in avoiding (or at least catching
early) the scattering of syntactical errors and ommissions that crept
into your code. It is also good practice for when you want to break
out logical tasks into subroutines.