This may be slightly off topic, it sounds to me you're creating something similar to a MANIFEST file. Let me explain what this is..

On CPAN, every module has a file in it called MANIFEST. It's become a standard part of most perl module distributions. Basically, it's is a list of all the files in the current (and lower directories), along with optional comments beside each file name. It's main purpose is to be a module-wide database of required files, so that during install, any missing files will immediately raise errors from the install process.

There is a module called ExtUtils::Manifest, which is part of the standard perl distribution, that takes care of reading the current directory, and creating a MANIFEST file for you. As well, inside a file called MANIFEST.SKIP, you can specify a list of regexes that match file names to skip.

While it's interface it's very elegant, it is functional, and may give you ideas if/when you decide to roll your own manifest writer. Here's some simple example code that will create a MANIFEST with the current directories' contents inside it:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use ExtUtils::Manifest qw(mkmanifest);

#Optional Configuration
$ExtUtils::Manifest::Quiet    = 1;          #Turn off warnings
$ExtUtils::Manifest::Verbose  = 0;          #Turn off status updates
$ExtUtils::Manifest::MANIFEST = 'MANIFEST'; #Filename to write

#Will make a MANIFEST file for all the files in your
#current directory, including the MANIFEST file
mkmanifest();
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