You could always check if the file exists before trying to open it, and use that to decide whether to open it for input or output. That way, you know that if it exists but you can't open it for input, the error is serious enough to warrent a die (or warn depending on your error handling). 

if ( -e $file ) {
    open FH, $file      or die "Failed: $! trying open existing $file\
+n";
    # read it
    open FH, '>', $file or die "Failed: $! trying to re-open $file\n";
+    
}
else {
    open FH, '>'.$file  or die "Failed: $! trying to create new $file\
+n";
    # do stuff
}

[download]

This way, if you get out of the if/else, you know you have a file open for output ready for (re)writing.

It also means that you get a meaningful error msg if the file is read-only.

Nah! Your thinking of Simon Templar, originally played by Roger Moore and later by Ian Ogilvy

In reply to Re: To die or not to die by BrowserUk
in thread To die or not to die by Popcorn Dave

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