eval {
   ... code that might die ...
};
if ($@) {
   # if we had an error.
   ... read $@ and decide on what to do ...
}

##</code><code>##

$SIG{__DIE__} = \&my_death;

sub my_death {
   warn @_;          #propagate the message via warn()
   POSIX::_exit(42); #exit with code 42
}

##</code><code>##

sub main {
   ... main program logic ...
}

eval { main() };
if ($@) {
   ... handle any fatal errors ...
}

##</code><code>##

eval { main() };
if ($@) {
   warn "FATAL: $@"; ## all I want to do is warn about the fatal.
}

END {
   close_all_files();
   issue_done_to_server();
}