open(FIL,"prob89data.txt"); $x = 0; foreach () { s/(\r|\n)//g; $o = length($_); s/VIIII/IX/g; s/IIII/IV/g; s/LXXXX/XC/g; s/XXXX/XL/g; s/DCCCC/CM/g; s/CCCC/CD/g; $x += ($o - length($_)); } print "Total characters saved: " . $x . "\n"; close(FIL); exit;