use constant MTIME => 9; # File modification time if ((stat("$BulletinSrc"))[MTIME] > (stat("$BulletinPDF"))[MTIME]) { $Text .= " PDF is stale \"$BulletinPDF\"\n"; $Errors++; } else { $Text .= " PDF is UP-TO-DATE \"$BulletinPDF\"\n"; }