Hello rpinnam,

For reading a CSV or similar file, a module such as Text::CSV is usually the best idea. Yes, it may seem like overkill, but, unless you can be certain there will never be any edge cases (string-embedded delimiters, embedded newlines, ...) in your data files, you’ll benefit from using a dedicated module in the long run. Here’s a demonstration adapted from toolic’s answer and the module documentation:

#! perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Text::CSV;

my $csv = Text::CSV->new({ sep_char => '|' })
    or die "Cannot use CSV: " . Text::CSV->error_diag;

while (my $line = <DATA>)
{
    $csv->parse($line);
    my @fields = grep { !/^\s*$/ } $csv->fields;
    print join('|', @fields), "\n";
}

$csv->eof or $csv->error_diag;

__DATA__
IFB Northpole||| Alaska||| 907-555-5555
Walmart||| Fairbanks||| Alaska
Chicken||| Anchorage||| Alaska||| 907-555-5555
Beef||| Somewhere|||||Over the Rainbow|||907-555-5555
[download]

Output:

 0:31 >perl 1397_SoPW.pl
IFB Northpole| Alaska| 907-555-5555
Walmart| Fairbanks| Alaska
Chicken| Anchorage| Alaska| 907-555-5555
Beef| Somewhere|Over the Rainbow|907-555-5555

 0:31 >
[download]

Hope that helps,