http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=74005


in reply to Seeing double

Sure.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict;
Always use -w and use strict. my $textfile = "iwn.txt"; Use my to declare variables under use strict.
open TEXT, $textfile or die "Can't Open $textfile"; my ($email, $id); while (<TEXT>){ $email ||= $_ if /Email address:/; $id ||= $_ if /Message-Id:/; }
You were using C style looping. Perl loops are much nicer.

$x ||= $y (or equals) is the same as $x = $x || $y. The end effect for you is $id gets a value only if it doesn't already have one.
close TEXT; print $email; print $id;
Pulling these variables out of the loop ensures they only get printed once.