use strict;
use warnings;
use diagnostics;

my $historyFile = 'gsHistToMassSto';

my $doneFlag = findTargetAttribute('last','WorkFlowStatus','status',$historyFile);
print "My DONE flag = $doneFlag\n";

eval {my $result = findTargetAttribute('first','WorkFlow','status',$historyFile);
print "My result is $result\n";};

sub findTargetAttribute{

  use XML::Parser;

  my ($location,$targetElement,$targetAttribute,$file) = @_;
  my $parser = XML::Parser->new(Handlers => {Start => \&handle_start});
  my @results;
  print "$location, $targetElement, $targetAttribute, $file\n";
  $parser->parsefile($file);

  if($location eq 'first'){return $results[0]}
  if($location eq 'last'){return $results[-1]}
  else {return @results}

  sub handle_start {
    my($expat, $element, %attrs) = @_;
    if($element eq $targetElement){
      print "Target = $targetElement\n";
       if(%attrs){
	while(my($key, $value) = each(%attrs)){
	  if($key eq $targetAttribute){push @results,$value;}
	}
      }
    }  
  }
}