hey thanks, I have tried the way you provided to read the .xml file. When I print out the "$xml_text" it seems it is only part of the xml file

Before I post a question here. I have tried use a while loop

 while(<STDIN>){
    print $_;
}
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which produce the same output with your method. If I put the xml file to a .txt file. It reads in just fine. the reason I cannot use module is because it is an home work requirement