You were right on the money. I wasn't getting the value in $grpfile I was expecting and I was jumping to conclusions. Thanks.
I must say I'm impressed by you monks. The helpfulness and consideration given to beginers like me is fantastic. Thanks again everymonk.
My beginning Perl book also says not to interpolate single variables and that other programmers will laugh at you behind your back (direct quote) :). I see that it is unnecessary now but are there any more sinister consequences?