looks like many people beat me to it on this thread. i guess i should expect that now that my days are filled with ksh and not perl {grin}

abstracts this is good code. very good.

but not perfect.

from select (but not listed in IO::Select -- it should be!):

WARNING: One should not attempt to mix buffered I/O (like read() or <FH>) with select(), except as permitted by POSIX, and even then only on POSIX systems. You have to use sysread() instead.

it is a simple task to modify your code to use sysread, and i don't have the time to do it myself now. if nobody's attacked this by wednesday evening, i'll try to post it then.

otherwise, you'll be Suffering from Buffering

~Particle ;Þ