use Data::Dump; my $data = "\x01\x02\x03\x20\x00"; dd unpack 'C*', $data; # prints (1, 2, 3, 32, 0) dd unpack 'a*', $data; # prints "\1\2\3 \0" dd unpack 'A*', $data; # prints "\1\2\3" dd unpack 'Z*', $data; # prints "\1\2\3 " dd unpack 'Z*', $data."X "; # prints "\1\2\3 " dd unpack 'A*', $data."X "; # prints "\1\2\3 \0X" dd unpack 'a*', $data."X "; # prints "\1\2\3 \0X "