Another poster also suggested using BINMODE, however I have tried it a few different ways (see my second post) and am not getting the results I need. As to $#ARV== -1, I do not recall specifically. I have been writing Perl for about 4 years now and relied heavily on the Perl Black Book and the Perl CookBook back then so my guess is either from one of those or perhaps one of the online tutorials I took. I appreciate your advice though.