Check the return (error) status of open with $! (Tip #7 from Basic debugging checklist).
I think die statements all over the place diminish code readability myself
autodie was created to address that issue.

Re-writing your code with more modern/robust style: 

open my $fh, '<', $file or die "can't find input file $!";

[download]

In reply to Re: opening missing file inside eval statement by toolic
in thread opening missing file inside eval statement by Anonymous Monk

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