$another = +{}; $another->{clean} = '/usr/matt/.kshrc'; $another->{dirty} = (<>); # and also print "1 : " ; system("echo \"$another\" > /dev/null 2>&1"); print "2 : " ; system("echo $another->{clean} > /dev/null 2>&1"); print "3 : " ; system("echo $another->{dirty} > /dev/null 2>&1");