sub openFile {
  my ($file1, $file2) = @_;  # assume these are passed as parameters
  my $fn = $file1 || $file2;  # replaces the 'if' in original

  open FH, $fn or die "$fn: $!";
  my @entries = <FH>;
  close FH;

  # in list context, return the entire array, else (scalar context) a ref
  return wantarray ? @entries : \@entries;
}