read(FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET)

     read(FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH)

             Attempts to read LENGTH bytes of data into  variable
             SCALAR  from  the specified FILEHANDLE.  Returns the
             number of bytes actually read, or undef if there was
             an  error.   SCALAR  will  be grown or shrunk to the
             length actually read.  An OFFSET may be specified to
             place  the  read  data  at some other place than the
             beginning of the  string.   This  call  is  actually
             implemented  in terms of stdio's fread call.  To get
             a true read system call, see sysread.