use strict;
use vars qw/ $lines $blah1 $blah2 $blah3 /;

sub count_lines {
	$lines = 0; 
	open(FILE, "filename");
	while(<FILE>) {        
		$lines += ($_ =~ tr/\n//);
	}
	print "$lines lines in filename\n";
	close (FILE);
}

sub breakup_lines {
	open(FILE, "filename");
	while(<FILE>) {
		($blah1,$blah2,$blah3) = split(/\|/, $_);
		## do something with the blahs
	}
	close (FILE);
}

##</code><code>##

sub breakup_lines {
	open(FILE, "filename");
	while(<FILE>) {
		push @blah, (split /\|/);
		## do something with the @blah
	}
	close (FILE);
}