in reply to using a file in a different dir

use lib is what you need. It is used to add directories to the @INC array, which is a list of the directories to look for files that are require'd or use'd. So above your use myfile statement, add a use lib directory staetment to include the directory that myfile is in.
#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use lib '/home/someuser/somedir'; use myfile;
Just put in the absolute directory path where i have the directory specified. I know that there is something odd about using '..' in an @INC path, but i cant remember exactly what, someone else should know.

I use the most powerful debugger available: print!