I'm attempting to write a Perl script on the AS400. I am attempting to open and parse a stream file (CCSID 37). Here is the relevant line. I know this isn't right, but I can't seem to figure out what the right syntax would be, or if what I am trying to do is doable at all.

@contents = decode("cp37",`head -5 $wd_file`);

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I have tried  open (FILE,"<:encoding(cp37)",$wd_file);. It works perfectly. Unfortunately, the files can be a couple of million lines long, and I need to examine 1 line at the beginning and three lines near the end. Processing the entire file will be slow and wasteful, especially given how perl runs on an AS400. I would really like to be able to use "head" and "tail", if at all possible.

(EDIT: yes, I am an almost complete perl neophyte.)

In reply to encode problems on AS400 by cunningrat

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