my $MAX_FILES=10; # Max open files we want
my %files;        # We can keep multiple file handles
while(1)
{
   my $new_line = get_line_of_code();
   my $line_time = get_date_stamp($new_line);

   my $file_name = "$DATA_DIRECTORY$line_time.ascii";
   if (!exists $files{$file_name}) {
      # close a file if we have too many
      my @filenames = keys %files;
      if (@filenames >= $MAX_FILES) {
         my $t = $files{$filenames[0]};
         close $t or die $!;
         delete $files{$filenames[0]};
      }

      open $files{$file_name}, '>>', $filename
        or print "$file_name could not be created\n";
   }

   $file = $files{$file_name};
   print $file $new_line."\n"
     or print "data COULDNT be printed to CURRENT_FILE\n";
} #end of while loop