tony-******-macbook-pro:~ tony******$ perl --version This is perl, v5.8.8 built for darwin-thread-multi-2level (with 4 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail) <> tony-******-macbook-pro:~ tony******$ perl m.perl Name "main::FILE" used only once: possible typo at m.perl line 27. Drag and drop a file here: /Users/tony******/Desktop/x.txt Invalid type 'W' in unpack at m.perl line 12, line 1. Now, regarding your concern about extra bytes... plausible: Note the space after x.txt... the square is probably my cursor.