C:\Scripts>perl -v This is perl, v5.8.0 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread (with 1 registered patch, see perl -V for more detail) Copyright 1987-2002, Larry Wall Binary build 806 provided by ActiveState Corp. http://www.ActiveState.com Built 00:45:44 Mar 31 2003 Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License or the GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5 source kit. Complete documentation for Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on this system using `man perl' or `perldoc perl'. If you have access to the Internet, point your browser at http://www.perl.com/, the Perl Home Page. C:\Scripts>type count.pl $string = 'U|Table|col1|col2|col3|last|'; $count++ while $string =~ /\|/g; print "Count: ($count)\n"; C:\Scripts>perl count.pl Count: (6) C:\Scripts>perl -d count.pl Unable to connect to remote host: 127.0.0.1:2000 Compilation failed in require. main::BEGIN() called at C:/Perl/lib/perl5db.pl line 0 eval {...} called at C:/Perl/lib/perl5db.pl line 0 BEGIN failed--compilation aborted. C:\TwScripts>