I'm having trouble counting the number of characters in a DATA block in my script. Each line contains 6 fields separated by the pipe symbol '|'. In trying to sanitize the data before entering it into a DB I want to ensure each line contains 5 pipe symbols. But my script seems to only read the first line of the DATA block showing me it contains 5 pipes. What I have tried

    my $PipeCounter=0; # how many?
    my $Lookfor="|";
    while(<DATA>) {
        $PipeCounter = () = $_ =~ /\Q$Lookfor/g;
    }
    print "Found $PipeCounter '$Lookfor'\n";
[download]

which shows me

Running Sanitize on DATA ...
Found 5 '|'
[download]

Sample DATA:

2015|Art Of Computer Programming - Volume 4 Fascicle 6 Satisfiablility
+ (The)|Art Of Computer Programming - Volume 4 Fascicle 6 Satisfiablil
+ity (The).pdf|Knuth,Donald E.|Programming;Reference|The never-ending 
+story .. this book has been decades in the making. Three volumes were
+ available for years but the master himself has added this addition t
+o Chap. 7 'Combinatorial Searching'.
2010|Art Of Photography (The)|Art Of Photography (The).pdf|Barnbaum,Br
+uce|Photography|A successful photograph does one of several things. I
+t allows, or forces, the viewer to see something that he has looked a
+t many times without really seeing; it shows him something he has nev
+er previously encountered; or, it raises questions - perhaps ambiguou
+s or unanswerable - that create mysteries, doubts, or uncertainties. 
+In other words, it expands our vision and our thoughts. It extends ou
+r horizons. It evokes awe, wonder, amusement, compassion, horror, or 
+any of a thousand responses. It sheds new light on our world, raises 
+questions about our world, or creates its own world.
1994|Art Of Woodworking Sharpening And Tool Care (The)|Art Of Woodwork
+ing Sharpening And Tool Care (The).pdf|Time-Life Books|Woodworking To
+ols|Whether you're using a chisel or a router or a lathe, you know th
+at a sharp tool is critical to doing a good job. It's also safer - a 
+dull tool requires more force, and more force = less control. This bo
+ok covers the proper techniques for sharpening all manner of your woo
+dworking tools - hand tools, power tool blades and bits, portable pow
+er tools, and stationary power tools. Detailed photographs and illust
+rations with excellent descriptions and instructions.
2017|Art and Craft of Problem Solving 3E (The)|Art and Craft of Proble
+m Solving 3E (The).pdf|Zeitz,Paul|Mathematics;Logic;Calculus|This is 
+a book about mathematical problem solving for college-level novices. 
+By this I mean bright people who know some mathematics (ideally, at l
+east some calculus), who enjoy mathematics, who have at least a vague
+ notion of proof, but who have spent most of their time doing exercis
+es rather than problems.
[download]

Anyone shed some light on this please?

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