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
}