use Text::CSV_XS (); my %data; parse_ssn_file( "file1.txt", \%data ); parse_salary_file( "file2.txt", \%data ); my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new(); foreach my $cur ( sort keys %data ) { $csv->combine( $cur, @{ $data{$cur} }{qw( ssn file salary zip )} ); print $csv->string, "\n" } exit 0; sub parse_ssn_file { my( $file, $data ) = @_; local( *CUR ); open( CUR, $file ) or die "Can't open $file: $!\n"; scalar ; # discard header my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new( ); while( ) { $csv->parse( $_ ); my @cur = $csv->fields(); $data->{ $cur[0] }->{ssn} = $cur[1]; $data->{ $cur[0] }->{file} = $cur[2]; } return } sub parse_salary_file { my( $file, $data ) = @_; local( *CUR ); open( CUR, $file ) or die "Can't open $file: $!\n"; scalar ; # discard header my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new( ); while( ) { $csv->parse( $_ ); my @cur = $csv->fields(); $data->{ $cur[0] }->{salary} = $cur[1]; $data->{ $cur[0] }->{zip} = $cur[2]; } return } __END__