so when i come out of a loop like that, it will close the $FILE for me? but i think in this particular case, dont i need to keep it open until $bytes =~ /ff/ ? that way it closed the file and goes to the next one early. but i thnk i see what your saying :) i will def keep that in mind. i just need to figure out how to make a list of variables that i can store $pointer into. or read each line from the file thats created into $_ and write that at my offsets i need to then close file and open next without loosing spot in pointers file.
edit, i kind of see what you mean, but a good example would be even better :P