to all the perl guru's this one is for you. I can read and write to and from files just fine. but when I try to do it at the same run like for updating records in a file I get bugs and wierd looking output files. open(FILE, "+<$file"); while(<FILE>); { &change_record; print FILE $new_record; } close(FILE); what am I doin'g wrong. I've read all the books and man pages will apreciate any help. shahar.