zentara - thanks for the reply. if you avoid win32, is there something else you use for gui on windows? i'm new to perl on windows and need a gui. i chose cygwin's perl 'cause i'm lazy and more familiar with unix. i know about activestate but haven't work with it at all. does activestate have some gui interface? i was hoping this would be a quick and easy project... should this question be in the chatterbox?
thanks.