# ...
        push @out_field_heap, @field, "\n";

    }
    # single join over the whole batch
    my $out_buffer = join "|", @out_field_heap;


    # but that means we surrounded the newlines with pipes,
    # so fix em
    $out_buffer =~ s/\|\n\|/\n/g;

    print OUTPUT $out_buffer;
}