Hi,
the "quick and dirty" solution to your problem description.

my $rc_testd = grep /testd/ , ( `ps -ef` ) ;
if ($rc_testd > 1)
    { 
    print "testd daemon is up and running \n" ;
    exit 1 ;
    }
[download]

But it only works if you have exacly one running "testd.pl".
For a better approach you should consider the solutions by rob_au or ehdonhon.
MP