sub write_file { my ($cinfo, $data, $fields) = @_; . . . if (!defined $fields) { # caller didn't specify field order, so we need a list # of data items, so get 'em from the hash $fields = [ keys %$data ]; } for my $field_name (@$fields) { my $value = $$ref{$field_name}; print $FH "$field_name, $value\n"; } . . . } . . . write_file($config{'info'}, $ref, [qw(bandwidth distance size active)] );