When you submit a form to upload a file, the script has been sent a file, by it's name, not by it's path. The path info is only so the client knows where to get the desired file.
In that case then if I need to open that file that was in
the textbox in order to parse through it...how can I find
the file if I cannot get the path info.
You need to upload the file to get the data. The client knows where the file is, the program doesn't need to. When I say 'upload' I don't mean that it has to be turned into a physical file on disk, but you have to read the data in. Look at the CGI.pm module, which will send you on the path to getting this done.