If you're running it as a CGI you don't necessarily know what the current directory is. Try doing a print `pwd`; to see where the script actually is.

Usually, with things like file paths, it can be useful to make a configuration variable that holds this stuff in, so when you open you do something more like open (INPUTFILE, "<$root/postcode.txt");. $root can be a variable set at the top of the file, read in from a configuration file, etc.

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to - opening a new shell just to get the current directory. Particularly when Perl has a standard module to do just that.

use Cwd;

print cwd;
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--
<http://www.dave.org.uk>

"Perl makes the fun jobs fun
and the boring jobs bearable" - me

Or even a prefined var ;-)


print $ENV{'PWD'};
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"Only Bad Coders Badly Code In Perl" (OBC2IP)