Well, Net::Telnet() has served me well, but I need it to go *much* faster than it already is.
My script connects to a Vax machine, and issues whatever commands are needed, but I find that Net::Telnet() is running until the command timeout, not until the matching prompt returns. This has made me force my commands to have 40-60 second timeouts in order to ensure none of my info gets cut off. Using some key placements of 'localtime' to record what happens when, the example below will run for 31, 31, and 56 seconds respectively, even if the command is brief and finishes in 10-15 seconds.

I'm desperate to get this trimmed down in time, but don't know enough of the code's workings on my own to do it.
I've posted a few lines below... if someone prefers to see what's happening.

$match = '/\[0c/';
$matchop = $match;
$hostname = 'silly.vax.machine';

$vax = new Net::Telnet(Prompt => $match);
$vax->errmode("return");
$vax->open($hostname);
#$vax->dump_log($dumplog);

$start = localtime();
$vax->login(Name => $login, Password => $password) || die "cannot logi
+n to $hostname";

$vax->cmd(String => $string1, Timeout => 30, Prompt => $matchop);
$vax->cmd(String => $string2, Timeout => 30, Prompt => $matchop);
$vax->cmd(String => $string3, Timeout => 55, Prompt => $matchop);
[download]

... you get the picture. Is there something I'm doing wrong or misinterpreting when reading the CPAN documentation about matching and timeouts?