when used in scalar context, readdir returns undef when there are no more entries:

opendir DIR, q{.} or die $!,$/;
my $last;
while (my $file = readdir DIR) {
   $last = $file;
}
print $last; ## this prints the last file
closedir DIR;

[download]
yet, keep in mind that there is no order garanteed, so don't count on that.

OTOH, if you use readdir in list context, it will return you a null list when no entries are available. 

opendir DIR, q{.} or die $!,$/;
my @files = readdir DIR;
closedir DIR;
print $files[-1];  ## this prints the last file

[download]
Here you have control on the file ordering in the usual list sorting manner: 
## sorted by name, case sensitive
my @files = sort {$a cmp $b} readdir DIR;

[download]

--
AltBlue.

In reply to Re: Determine if item is last one by AltBlue
in thread Determine if item is last one by dgoins

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