I always use de modulus "%" operator against the number two for an increasing list when I want something to be alternating. Remember that the tag for the background is "bgcolor=" and that any text for the color has to have quotes around it. Merry Christmas, get it? *grin*

my $color_num = 1;
while( @data = $query->fetchrow ) {

$rowcolor = 'RED';
if ($color_num % 2 > 0)
  {
   $rowcolor = 'GREEN';
  }
  
print REPORT_FILE qq(
    <tr  bgcolor=\"$rowcolor\">
    <td width=400 align=left>$data[0]</td>
        <td width=50 align=left>$data[1]</td>
        <td width=50 align=left>$data[2]</td>
        <td width=50 align=left>$data[3]</td>
        <td width=50 align=left>$data[4]</td>
        </tr>   )   
 $color_num++;
}
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