my @pinWords = (); if($line =~ m/.*?,.*?,.*/){ @pinWords = split(',',$line); } elsif($line =~ m/.*?;.*?;.*/){ @pinWords = split(';',$line); } #### ... $pin =~ s/^\s*|\s*$//g; #To remove all leading and trailing blanks ... $pinList{$pin} = [$pinMaxSDV,$pinMinSDV];