The END block is executed outside the loop that -n created. If you had two input files, it would still execute only once. I think this will do what you wanted: 
perl -F';' -ani -e 'print "delete from atable where afield = $F[0]\n";
+ print "quit\n" if eof' delete.sql

[download]
It looks like a reasonable, albeit quick-and-dirty, way to update a table to me.
Caution: Contents may have been coded under pressure.

In reply to Re: inplace edit and END block by Roy Johnson
in thread inplace edit and END block by codeacrobat

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