c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"sub not_too_many_dots { return $_[0] =~ tr/.// <= 1; }
 ;;
 for my $s ('', qw(.  ..  ...  ....)) {
   printf qq{'$s' %stoo many dots \n},
          not_too_many_dots($s) ? 'NOT ' : ''
          ;
   }
"
'' NOT too many dots
'.' NOT too many dots
'..' too many dots
'...' too many dots
'....' too many dots