$ perl -MO=Deparse -pe '$_=$' LINE: while (defined($_ = )) { $_ = $; } continue { die "-p destination: $!\n" unless print $_; } #### perl -pe '$.-32or$_=$' file | cat -A #### $ perl -MO=Deparse -pe '$_=$.' LINE: while (defined($_ = )) { $_ = $. } continue { die "-p destination: $!\n" unless print $_; }