Thank you, moritz, for you kind response. I apprecaite it very much, indeed.

Turns out that my mistake was that I forgot to chomp() $entry before testing. apl suspected that could be the problem and, indeed, when I added that in, everything works just fine.

It was such a rookie mistake and is one that I am embarassed to have made. I didn't realize that readdir() would put in the extra characters; but apparently it does.

I just too focused on the details of what was being put into $entry (in terms of the interior characters) that I forgot to look at what was at the end. As part of my troubleshooting I normally am careful to put some sort of bracketing character (e.g., [ and ]) just for that very purpose. I broke my own process; and am embarassed at the consequences!

Thank you, most sincerely, to everyone that responded. Your patience, help, and gentle responses were most kind. Your time and efforts are most appreciated.