sub openFile { my ($file, $accessMode) = @_; my $err; if (! defined($accessMode)) { # by default, open the file for reading $accessMode = $MODE_READ; } if (exists($ACCESS_MODES{$accessMode})) { if (! open(FILE, "$ACCESS_MODES{$accessMode}$file")) { $err = $!; if (defined($returnOnError)) { return $FALSE; } &throwGenError("Can't open $file: $err"); # throw exception } } else { &throwGenError("In openFile: Wrong access mode $accessMode"); } return FILE; }