use warnings; use strict; my $look_for; while(){ if (/^\./) { $look_for = $.; next; } print $., $_; } print "The dot came up on line ", $look_for, $/; __DATA__ Mary has a little lamb little lamb, little lamb . Mary has .... #### 1Mary has a little lamb 2little lamb, little lamb 4Mary has .... The dot came up on line 3