in reply to Manipulating END blocks

Why don't you just maintain a flag somewhere (either in a variable if your manager program remains active throughout; or in a file if this program is not always active) and check that flag in the END block so you know whether to call the shutdown code or not.

CountZero

A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom