$output_XML_A_open = "output_xml_d.txt"; open (OUTPUT_XML_A_OPEN, "<$output_XML_A_open"); $new_output_xml_a = "new_output_xml_d.txt"; open (NEW_OUTPUT_XML_A, "+>>$new_output_xml_a"); for ($d=1;$d<10;$d++){ while (){ $line = $_; # print "#############"; chomp; if ($line =~ /^(\d{1,10})/){ #print "...............\n"; $key = $1; print "$key\n"; $xml_content = $_; print "does $key = $d"; if ($d =~ /^$key$/){ #print "#########"; print NEW_OUTPUT_XML_A "$xml_content\n"; #if ($line =~ /^(\d{1,10})\s{4}