I can seem to get the  my $text = do { local $/; <MAT> }; to work. maybe you could advise me further. Here is my complete code.

 
#! perl
#! usr/bin/local/perl

$file = shift;
$pattern = shift;

open(MAT, "<$file") or die "bad file name";
     my  $text = do ( local $/: <MAT> );
 while($text =~ /\Q$pattern\E/g) {
  $x += 1; 
}

print "found $x matches\n";

close(MAT);
[download]

that crashes on me so here is my code that works but doesn't read the whole file.

#! perl
#! usr/bin/local/perl

$file = shift;
$pattern = shift;

open(MAT, "<$file") or die "bad file name";
        $text = <MAT>;
 while($text =~ /\Q$pattern\E/g) {
  $x += 1; 
}

print "found $x matches\n";

close(MAT);
[download]

thanks

Height : varies depending on my speed relative to the observer Weight : is a sensation caused by the gravitational wrapping of time-space Age : time is only a persistent illusion

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