next until $. >1;

##</code><code>##

    next if $_ =  /^done/;

##</code><code>##

    next if $_= $_=~/^done/;

##</code><code>##

    last if /^done/;
    #or
    #last if $_=~/^done/;

##</code><code>##

my @contents;
my $header=<PAST>; # extract the first line
while (<PAST>) {
    next unless /\S/;  # ignore whitespace only lines.
    last if /^done/;   # finish when we hit a line starting with 'done'
    #chomp;            # uncomment if you dont want newlines in contents.
    push @contents,$_; # add the line to the buffer
}

##</code><code>##

my @contents;
my $header=<PAST>; # extract the first line
while (<PAST>) {
    next unless /\S/;  # ignore whitespace only lines.
    if (/^done,(\d+)$/) {
        die "Count mismatch in trailer. Got $1 expected @{[scalar @contents]}"
             unless $1 == scalar(@contents);
        last;    
    }
    #chomp;            # uncomment if you dont want newlines in contents.
    push @contents,$_; # add the line to the buffer
}