Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't even see the '\n' with my beginner's eyes! But now, my code reads like this:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

sub filetest {
    my @answer;
    return "File does not exist\n";
         unless -e $_;
    push @answer, "readable "
         if -r $_;
    push @answer, "writable "
         if -w $_;
    push @answer, "executable "
         if -x $_;
    return @answer;
    

}

while (<>) {
      s/\s*$//; 
      my @answer =  &filetest($_);
      print @answer;
}

[download]


And now, no matter what file I feed the program, it reports "File does not exist". Also, if I remove the line 
return "File does not exist\n";
         unless -e $_;

[download]
the program executes quietly, not printing out any messages. I'm a little confused and befuddled by this.

In reply to Re^2: Unsuccessful stat on file test by bluethundr
in thread Unsuccessful stat on file test by bluethundr

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