Ok, the shell solutions are good, but if you really want to use Perl have a look on this: 
use File::Find;

find(\&wanted, './');

sub wanted {
    return unless /\.out$/;
    open F, '<', $_ or return;
    while (defined (my $line = <F>)) {
        print "ACTION!" if $line =~ /error/;
    }
    close F;
}

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#1 => File::Find is the module for searching a directory tree. Have a look at the POD to find out more.

#2 => If the files are big, you may want to think about optimizing, but for small files above is enough.

#3 => There are multiple modules on CPAN to do this cleanly. Search for sendmal or smtp and choose what fits your needs.

#4 => That's hard. You may want to look for a module like ACME::NOP or CORE::return, but I'm really unsure if they do enough nothing... ;-))

Update: And don't try to look at a Perl Monks Preview after to much Irish Coffee---you won't see the missing <p>s...
Search, Ask, Know

In reply to Re: File Search by Beechbone
in thread File Search by mikevanhoff

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