I think we can agree that the FOR LOOP/IF STATEMENT is probably a nicer solution ? :)

Especially since it's almost the for loop I posted - just s/map/for/, pull the (readdir DIR) up top, slip a next into the loop, and there you have it.

If you actually want something that's not a for loop in disguise, you could pull a really horrible trick like

my @dir;
my @files = map {
    ($_ ne '.') && ($_ ne '..') &&
    -d "$base/$_" ?
        do { push @dir, $_; () } :
        -f "$base/$_" && $_
} readdir DIR;
[download]

But if the Communications Decency Act had gone through I wouldn't have been able to even post this.

Makeshifts last the longest.