I went with this...

my $numfiles = 0;
            opendir DIR, "$config{'basepath'}$key" or &oops("Category 
+directory $key could not be opened.");
        readdir DIR;readdir DIR;
        while ($_ = readdir DIR){$numfiles++ if /\d.dat/o }
            closedir DIR;
[download]

My files actually end with .dat, therefore I added the extension...

I want to thank you all for your help... GOD I love this site... (no pun intended!)

_______SysAdm