#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my @args;
our $F;

@args = ("cciss_vol_status /dev/ciss0 > checkstatres.txt");
system(@args);

open RESULTS, "checkstatres.txt" or die "can't open datafile: $!\n";
while (<RESULTS>){
        my @F=split(/:/, $_);
        if ( $F[2] =~ /OK./){
                printf (" it's okay\n");
        }
        else{
                printf (" it's not ok\n");
        }
}
[download]

In the spirit of helping improve programming skills, please accept these minor criticisms:
• our $F; is not being used, and is not necessary. What IS being used it my @F...
• You are separating the declaration and assignment of @args. Proficient perl programmers would combine these as in
  my @args = ("cciss_vol_status /dev/ciss0 > checkstatres.txt");
• You are not checking to see if your system call was successful. Typical use is :
  system ... or die ....

Happy programming!

You could also consider the Net::SMTP (or Mail::SendEasy) modules as an alternative to using system calls to send mail.

     "As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... " - Sir Norman Wisdom

Thank you NetWallah, your input is appreciated. I've made the changes so hopefully my script now looks closer to what someone that knows what thery're doing would have done ;-) . I do have one new issue. I'm trying to get the script to email. According to what I read in "Programming Perl" and through Google it should work as is shown below. However the $hostname and $address variables in @email are not being seen. If I "hard code" the hostname and email address the script works fine. Anyone have any more suggestions?

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

$address = 'user@gmail.com';

my @hostname = ("hostname -s");
my @email = ("echo $hostname array issue | mail -s 'Array problem' $ad
+dress");

my @args = ("cciss_vol_status /dev/ciss0 > checkstatres.txt");
system(@args);

open RESULTS, "checkstatres.txt" or die "can't open datafile: $!\n";
while (<RESULTS>){
        my @F=split(/:/, $_);
        if ( $F[2] =~ /OK./){
                ;;
        }
        else{
                my $hostname = system(@hostname);
                system(@email);
        }
}

my @args2 = ("rm checkstatres.txt");
system(@args2);
[download]