use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dumper; my @data; while( ) { chop; if ( /^(array.*|unassigned)$/ ) { push @data, $1; } else { $data[-1] .= " $_"; } } print Dumper \@data; __DATA__ array A physicaldrive 2C:1:1 port 2C:box 1:bay 1 SAS 1 TB OK physicaldrive 2C:1:2 port 2C:box 1:bay 2 SAS 1 TB OK array B physicaldrive 2C:1:3 port 2C:box 1:bay 3 SAS 1 TB OK physicaldrive 2C:1:4 port 2C:box 1:bay 4 SAS 1 TB OK unassigned physicaldrive 7C:3:7 port 7C:box 3:bay 7 SAS 1 TB OK physicaldrive 7C:3:8 port 7C:box 3:bay 8 SAS 1 TB OK