sub read_template {
    my ($templfile, $hashref) = @_;
    my $fh = \ *DATA; # by way of open(...)
    local $/ = '</TEMPLATE>'; # set the record terminator
    while ( <$fh> ) {
        last if /^\s*$/; # ignore trailing newline(s)
        chomp; # remove trailing terminator
        my ( $name) = /^\s*<\s*TEMPLATE\s+NAME="(.*)"\s*>\s*/i or
            die "data error in $templfile, chunk $.";
        $hashref->{ $name} = substr( $_, $+[ 0]);
    }
}

__DATA__

<TEMPLATE NAME="TEMPLATE1">
# Processing instructions here ...
</TEMPLATE>

<TEMPLATE NAME="TEMPLATE2">
# Instructions for some other action ...
</TEMPLATE>