Within the loop that goes through all your lines:

my ($mnum,$mname) = split(/ /,$mdata,2);
next unless $mnum == $linenumber_to_search_for;
print "$mname";
last;
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I guess I should have been more clear on that... the number field doesnt correlate with the line numbers

there are 551 lines.. this is a static amount.

think of it as a file with 2 fields one listing a phone number and the other listing a name.

the line number will be used to pull the line and split it into the 2 variables which will then be used in another sub routine.

basically this is an irc bot code for a game.

users will /msg botname battle some_number

which will then search the file for that line, grab the name of the monster, and the number which is it's attack rating and force the player and monster to fight based on both of their attack ratings.

Perhaps you could show us a few lines from the file to give us a sample? So what you are saying is that the number you are looking for is more like an id number or phone number than a line number? So that when you say "the line number will be used to pull the line" you perhaps mean something more like the "phone number", to use your example?

If there are no repeats of the line number you want from anywhere else in the file, then perhaps the following:


undef $/; 
my $number = 42; 
#or $number = $ARGV[0] or whatever line number you were looking for
my $file = <FILE>;
my ($line, $name); 
# ($line) = $file =~ /$($number\s+.*)/m;
# would store the whole line 

($number, $name) = $file =~ /$($number)\s+(.*)/m;

# use the second form since you just want number and name
# and yes, you are overwriting the value of $number
# with itself all over again.  Use (undef, $name) = $file...
# if that makes you feel more comfortable.
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while (<$file_handle>) {
    next if $. < $line_number_I_want;
    ... do whatever you want with this line ...
    last;
}
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But that will only work if the line numbers in the file are starting at 1, increase by 1 for each line and have no gaps.

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

Since your file is relatively small, it's a fairly simple task:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

open F, '<', "myfile" or die "myfile: $!\n";
chomp(my @content = <F>);
close F;

# Input validation routine
my $in;
{
    print "Please enter the line number you want to retrieve (1-" . @c
+ontent . "): ";
    chomp($in = <STDIN>);
    # line_numbers == array_indexes shifted by + 1
    redo unless $in =~ /^\d+$/ && $in > 0 && $in <= @content;
}

# Now you can play with your retrieved value
my ($mnum, $mname) = split / /, $content[$in - 1], 2;
print "Number: $mnum Name: $mname\n";
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