in reply to routines as separate files?

Read up on Exporter, which comes with the standard Perl installation. That is exactly what you're looking for.

A word of advice - use @EXPORT_OK, not @EXPORT.

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We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

The idea is a little like C++ templates, except not quite so brain-meltingly complicated. -- TheDamian, Exegesis 6

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.