#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my $last_test_file = "./last_test_file";

printf("before loop\n");

while (1)
{

    if (open TEST_FILE, $last_test_file)
    {
    
        printf("after open\n");
    
        /^\s*TEST_PATTERN\s+/ and last while <TEST_FILE>;

        printf("after match\n");

        close(TEST_FILE);
                
    }
    
    else
    {
        die("ERROR: Unable to open $last_test_file for read, exiting...\n");
    }
}

printf("after loop\n");

##</code><code>##

while (<TEST_FILE>)
{
    /^\s*TEST_PATTERN\s+/ and last;
}