Well... i am about 75 and new to perl..so maybe i am confused :) BUT... when i hardcoded the perl script with the cd and unzip (as shown) and specified text not a variable... and executed the script by itself...it sure went to the right directory and unzipped the file...so...i just wanted to enhance that with a variable... It may have something to do with taint then...cause it only would not work with the variable... i will try your idea and see if that works.
OLD MAN trying to learn :)