I have enclosed the actual script used FYI

It went right through and printed the last line, but the files in C:/ Xwords had not changed their name.

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


    my $dir = "c:/Xwords";
    my $from = '.puz';
    my $to   = 'A.puz';

     while (<$dir*$from>) {
         my ($old,$new);
         $old = $new = $_;
         $new =~ s/$from$/$to/;
         rename $old, $new;
     }


print "Files renamed !";
[download]

The problem is that you have forgotten the / after Xwords. It works fine if you add it.

my $dir = "c:/Xwords/";
my $from = '.puz';
my $to   = 'A.puz';

while (<$dir*$from>) {
    my ($old,$new);
    $old = $new = $_;
    $new =~ s/$from$/$to/;
    rename $old, $new;
}
[download]

The problem is that the * in the glob is rather like *.* in something like copy *.* a: - if the * matched everything you would not need the . there. In a glob the * will match a filename like 'foo.bar' but not a path/filename like '/foo.bar' Without the trailing / the glob <$dir*$from> is trying to match files in c:/ that match the filename /Xwords\w*.puz/ If you put a file in C:/ called Xwordstest.puz it will get renamed. In the original script the $dir was 'c:/' not 'c:', that is the difference and the problem.

A useful trick when a script does not work is to slip in some print statements to see what is going on. If you place a print in the while loop you will see that the while loop is never entered in your example.

Good to see you back.

cheers

tachyon

s&&rsenoyhcatreve&&&s&n.+t&"$'$`$\"$\&"&ee&&y&srve&&d&&print