my @time = localtime(); $time[4]++; # convert from 0 based index to 1 based index $time[5]-=100; # 2digits=subtract 100 or 4digits=add 1900 $time[$_] = $time[$_]<10? "0".$time[$_]:$time[$_] for (0..5); $dirname = $time[5].$time[4].$time[3].$time[2].$time[1].$time[0];