my %hash = 1..4; my $stop = 0; while( my( $k, $v ) = each %hash ){ $stop++; print "# $k $v\n"; while( my( $kk, $vv ) = each %hash ){ print "## $kk $vv\n"; } die if $stop > 2; } __END__ # 1 2 ## 3 4 # 1 2 ## 3 4 # 1 2 ## 3 4 Died at - line 9. #### $ perl -le" %f=1..4; while( each %f ){print $g++; } " 0 1 $ perl -le" %f=1..4; while( each %f ){print $g++; keys %f; die if $g > 5; } " 0 1 2 3 4 5 Died at -e line 1.