if ( ! -s $file ) {
           die "File $file does not exist!  Check the command line or the pedigree file for errors!\
+n";
   }

##</code><code>##

   if ( $file =~ /.*\.bz2/ ) {
...
   } elsif ( $file =~ /.*\.gz/ ) {

##</code><code>##

   if ( $file =~ /\.bz2\z/ ) {
...
   } elsif ( $file =~ /\.gz\z/ ) {