use Socket;

sub cmp_ips {
    my $t = inet_aton( $_[0] ) or do { warn "$_[0] is not a valid IP address.\n"; return 0 };
    my $s = inet_aton( $_[1] ) or do { warn "$_[1] is not a valid IP address.\n"; return 0 };
    my $e = inet_aton( $_[2] ) or do { warn "$_[2] is not a valid IP address.\n"; return 0 };

    return 1 if $t eq $s && $t eq $e;

    return 1 if $t ge $s && $t le $e && ( $t ne $s || $t ne $e );

    return 0;
    }