well, I happen to be the author of the node you have pointed out there. I've been coming to perl monks for one primary reason ... to help me to get to grips with my perl programming. My skills are pretty elementary at the moment and I want to improve. there are many a posts I have put up with code. I just didnt know where to begin with this one.
Oh ... and its not homework by the way. It's real work and the actual task what a lot more complicated than what I posted. I don't want definitive answers .. I want a step in the right direction. I'm not going to learn anything by nicking bits of code that other people have written for me am I?
Thanks