See perlfunc:-X where it says:

This unary operator takes one argument, either a filename or a filehandle, and tests the associated file to see if something is true about it.

In essence, what you are passing is not a filename (or a filehandle). If you remove the '<' and '>>', you'll then get the results you are hoping for.

As it is, you are asking perl to look for a file called '< file' or '>> file', which probably don't exist, so there for they cannot be ordinary files, so the test fails, which is how it should be.

The use of '< file' in the two ar form of open is unique (and only applicable) to that call, where it serves to not only name the file, but also specify the mode of opening the file.

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.

In reply to Re: Unexpected file test (-f) result on Windows by BrowserUk
in thread Unexpected file test (-f) result on Windows by DaveH

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