Many thanks guys!!! That idea of using a module to input arguments is pretty clever all on its own. I will definitely give that a shot.

Generally, learning to use the command-line debugger is a pretty slow and uncomfortable process at the moment. I aimed to work through the book 'Pro Perl Debugging' by Foley and Lester, but I found it quickly became rather confusing. However I am trying to extract the key information from the first few chapters and focus on just one or too commands--'x' to show a variable's value, 'c' to jump to the next breakpoint, 's' to step into and 'n' to step over.

It would be nice to be able to customize the debugger appearance--set it for more than 80 columns for instance and specify what information it gives me at each step/jump. That is probably material for a different thread though!