this is a counter script i am working on, but i can't get it to work. if the script isn't the problem, what else could be? i renamed the page .shtml, and included the ssi call in the page.

#!/usr/bin/perl

open(COUNT, "count.dat");
$count = <COUNT>;
close (COUNT);
open(COUNT, "> count.dat");
$count += 1;
print COUNT "$count";
close (COUNT);

print "$count";

Try replacing:
with
-Matt

Also try checking return calls for open(), and you should really consider file locking if this is a web counter.

Cheers,

Alex

i'm new to perl so how do i check return calls for open()? and how do i lock the file? also does it matter that it's extension is .cgi not .pl? i've tried everything, but it just doesn't work. i use FTP Explorer to upload my files, and i upload the counter script and the text file that keeps count in ascii mode compared to binary mode. what's the problem? is someone willing to try to get it to work themselves? Thnaks.