sub checkdb
{
foreach $_ (@_)
{
..
... # snipped code where we munge around the db and get our
... # $variable

if ($variable < $threshold)
{
$command = '/usr/bin/blah';
$UPDATE = `$command << EOF
$variable is the value from DB. 
$variable is less that $threshold
EOF`;
}
else
{
}

}
}