If you just want to find a certain line/character, try something like this:

$line=0;
$matchline=5;
$char = 1;
open(MYFILE, "$myfile") || die;
while(<MYFILE>) {
  ++$line >= $matchline || next;
  $l=length($_);
  print "Found line $line (length: $l)\n$_\n";
  if ($l>$char) {
    print "Character $char is ", substr($_,$char-1,1), "\n";
  }
  last;
}
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