$offsetpattern .= chr((ord(@karray[i])+ord(@karray[i2])+ ord($offset2[$i % length($key)]))%256); #### my @karray = map ord, (split //, $key); #### my @karray = map ord, (split //, $key); my $len = length($key); # prints true for both print "true" if $len == @karray; print "true" if $len-1 == $#karray;