You assign strings 'FILE' and 'STDIN' instead of handles. Use
$HANDLE = *FILE;
...
$HANDLE = *STDIN;

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Update: or use \*FILE for a reference.

See Typeglobs and Filehandles.

In reply to Re: How to select a file handle depending on user options by choroba
in thread How to select a file handle depending on user options by gg48gg

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