I'm processing very large text files of delimited records, and localizing $/ to be my delimiter works great.

{local $/ = "DELIMITER"; 
    while( <FILE> ){ 
       do_this();
       do_that();
       do_the_other();
    } 
}
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However, I don't like having $/ altered for the scope of the entire while-loop 'cos that's pretty much my whole program and it could have consequences for the subroutines within the loop. I'm seeking a nice idiom to return it to its previous value, after it has done it's thing, for each iteration. Suggestions much appreciated.