sub 

	if ($? > 0 ) { $? = 0; }
	if ( defined(SNMP) ) { close SNMP; }
	print " /@/ gettable called ($?)\n";

	my ($target,$table,$fieldstring,$comstr) = @_;

	$snmpCmd = "mibtable -table $table -fields $fieldstring  -node $target  |";

		open (SNMP, $snmpCmd ) || die print STDERR "Couldn't open pipe: $! \/ $? \/ $@\n";
		$error = $?;


		while (<SNMP>)
		{ # do stuff }

		my $closed = 13;
		$closed = close (SNMP) ||  $! ? "Error closing sort pipe: $!"
									 : "Exit status $? from sort";
		print "\tDid filehandle get closed: '$closed'\n";
		undef SNMP;
		print STDERR "!!!! $! \/ $? \/ $@\n";

##</code><code>##

dncms@case3 ~ 621 > perl testSnmp2.pl node
 /@/ gettable called (0)
snmpCmd: 'mibtable -table table1 -fields fields1 -node node  |' 
        pid: 1168
 -1- (bootflash                                                                 65451748                                  65536000) 
 -2- (sw1-slot2-dfc-bootflash                                                   15990784                                  15990784) 
 -3- (sw1-slot3-dfc-bootflash                                                   15990784                                  15990784) 
 -4- (sw1-slot6-dfc-bootflash                                                   15990784                                  15990784) 
 -5- (sw1-slot7-dfc-bootflash                                                   15990784                                  15990784) 
Error retrieving information from node
No response arrived before timeout
        Did filehandle get closed: 'Exit status 256 from sort'
!!!!  / 256 / 
END GETTABLE

        (What is $?: 256)
Errno from pipe: (piped exit code: 1) / (signal: 0) / (core dump: 0) [0]
What is $?: 256
 /@/ gettable called (0)
snmpCmd: 'mibtable -table table1 -fields fields2 -node node  |' 
        pid: 1171
Error retrieving information from node
No response arrived before timeout
        Did filehandle get closed: 'Exit status 256 from sort'
!!!!  / 256 / 
END GETTABLE

What is $?: 256