Probably better to use local() and a block so as not to cause problems if somebody else set $/ to something other than \n (assumptions can come back to haunt you) . 
my $data;
{
  local($/) = undef;
  open (FILE, "<yourfile");
  $data = <FILE>;
  close FILE;
}

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In reply to RE: RE: How do I read an entire file into a variable? by Kasei
in thread How do I read an entire file into a variable? by sgtbaker

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