Hello,

here is how I would do it :

$filename = 'cow.pl';
undef $/;
my ($file, $lineCount) = (<DATA> =~ m/^(\Q$filename\E) ~ (\d+)$/m);

__DATA__
hi.pl ~ 6454
low.pl ~ 757
cow.pl ~ 43
low.pl ~ 757
[download]

HTH

--
zejames