try this: #!/usr/local/bin/perl use strict; my $date_cfg; my $new_date; print "Enter date of config file using : "; $date_cfg=<>; # you actually have to get the input chomp $date_cfg; #chomp off the lf $date_cfg =~ s!(\d{4})/(\d{2})(\d{2})!$2/$3/$1!; # year / month day mo/da/yr die "Wrong date config" unless ( -e "/home/limo/Perl/$date_cfg/test"); # not sure what the until was here - might have been part of a larger construct # that u simplified for the example. print "Creating Juniper configuration file from: $date_cfg\n"; #hth, ___cliff rayman___cliff_at_rayman.com