Hi pragovnj,

If you're new to the site, welcome. I see you have eight other posts, so I'm a little uncertain the next question is entirely necessary, but...um...are you sure this is a Perl-related issue?

Based on the program you posted, it looks like your data file should only contain 17 fields (assuming the file you're asking about was created by the program you posted). Have you tried looking at the data file from a text editor, just to be sure?

If you're opening the file in a different program, such as Excel or some other spreadsheet, it's possible the "extra fields" you're seeing are "helpfully" added by the program to give you room to work in. If you don't save the data file from this program, there shouldn't be any additional data in your file, blank or otherwise.

For what it's worth, the site is devoted to the Perl programming language and most monks assume that questions have something or other to do with coding Perl. Are you sure this is the right place for the help you're looking for?

If we've misunderstood the nature of your question, please feel free to clarify and re-post.

--f

P.S. If your previous question about the tab delimiters pertains to this particular program, you would change the tabs to vertical pipes by replacing the "\t"s with "|".

P.P.S. (If you're unsure about how to do this, may I humbly recommend obtaining a copy of Learning Perl? (The latest edition is a bit dated, but if the online materials aren't helping, this might be just the thing to help you.)