my ($oper, $rest) = shift, join ' ', @_; my $stop = 'stop'; my $force_stop = 'force_stop'; # ... if ($oper eq $stop) { run_stop ($rest); cleanup(); } elsif ($oper eq $force_stop) { run_force_stop ($rest); cleanup(); } elsif ($oper eq 'start') { run_start ($rest); } elsif ($oper eq 'force_start') { run_stop ($rest); cleanup(); run_start ($rest); } ... else { die "Unknown operation: $oper \n"; }