This example does two things:

1. Shows off Perl's power with text files (paragraph records with
tab-delimited fields in the first line).

2. Writes a custom key into a save file. This can be used if you have
third-party software that uses btrieve but does not define a sort that
you want and you are willing to sacrifice a sort it does do.

For many routine manipulation you should consider /rdb->/rdb
conversions instead: medium size rdb files are basically easier to deal with
and more open to other environments. Even large ones can be manipulated 
easily if they do not need much updating and are not critically dependent
on transaction support.