Ok, this is what I get for assuming other people can write code. mr_mischief was correct, the calls to pathrm were not using the second argument to force the call to pathempty. My bad for not re-reading the docs.

Actually, this is what you get for assuming someone else takes the time to write your code for you when you didn't take the time and make the effort to post what you had first. If you're having an issue with the length of that statement, just remember the words in bold. They make a sentence all their own.

Troubleshooting code from a prose description of the problem without the source that's causing the problem is like a doctor trying to diagnose an illness from described symptoms without a fluid sample from the patient.

Consider yourself lucky someone spent the time to diagnose your problem from the docs without seeing what you were doing.

Now, you have a completely different problem to solve which someone might have solved for you the first time around had they been able to see your code. Help us help you. How (Not) To Ask A Question and Why Questions Go Unanswered (Thanks, Dominous!) might help you to help us help you.

If you really want someone else to write the code from scratch instead of helping you with a specific issue you're having, there's always http://jobs.perl.org.