# File test_format.rb, line 135
  def getPerlToCompare (perl)
    program, arguments  = perl.split(' ', 2)
    if (@hasPerl)
      io = IO.popen(perl)
    else #use cached values
      io = File.open("./test/" + arguments)
    end
    perl_output = io.readlines()
    io.close()
    perl_output.collect! {|x| x.chomp()}
  end