Maybe your input file (file.properties) is not what you think it is. Show use a few lines of it.

This works for me: 

use warnings;
use strict;

my %o;
while (<DATA>) {
    $o{$1}=$2 while m/(\S+)=(\S+)/g;
    print "$1 and $2\n";
    
}

__DATA__
name=ant
password=gilly
level=5

[download]
Prints: 
name and ant
password and gilly
level and 5

[download]
See also:

In reply to Re^2: Perl script accessing a properties file by toolic
in thread Perl script accessing a properties file by monk monk

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