eval {
  # some perl code here
  . . . 
}

if ($@) {
  print "eval failed: $@\n\n" ;
}


##</code><code>##

               If there is a syntax error or runtime error, or a "die" state-
               ment is executed, an undefined value is returned by "eval", and
               $@ is set to the error message.  If there was no error, $@ is
               guaranteed to be a null string.