I would reccomend using Tie::File for this.
Frankly, rewriting the whole file to change just a few lines is a problematic situation with flat files. Although I would prefer some sort of database backend, Tie::File gives a database, without any necessary fields, etc.

You can read about Tie::File (Writen by Dominus) here, or go to cpan and download the module. Here's an example of how to edit a file from his article.

        tie @lines, 'Tie::File', 'file' or die ...;
        for (@lines) {
          # Do your thing, only for lines that match this regex, or ar
+e records that need to be changed.
        }
        untie @lines;
[download]

It should be quicker.

---

Gyan Kapur
gyan.kapur@rhhllp.com