my $sth = $dbh->prepare("INSERT INTO HLDdata (Data) VALUES (?)"); foreach $txt (@TXT) { print "$txt\n"; open(IN,"$txt") || warn("cant open $txt"); while(){ $line = $_; my $sth = $dbh->prepare( "select count(*) from HLDdata where Data = '$line'"); $sth->execute(); my ($data) = $sth->fetchrow(); print "$data \n"; if ($data ne 0){ print "record exist not adding\n"; &Logit("record exist not adding"); }else{ my ($Data) = $line; $sth->execute(); $line =~s/\|/\t/g; # print "$line\n"; print OUT "$line"; } }