my $section = 0; my @sectone; my @secttwo; while() { if (/;section1/) { $section = 1; } elsif (/;section2/) { $section = 2; } else { if ($section == 1) { push(@sectionone, $_); } elsif ($section == 2) { push(@sectiontwo, $_); } else { print "No section defined for: $_\n"; } } }