# if these are constants, then don't quote them my @type = ( INTEGER, INTEGER32, OCTET_STRING, OBJECT_IDENTIFIER, IPADDRESS, COUNTER, COUNTER32, GAUGE, GAUGE32, UNSIGNED32, TIMETICKS, OPAQUE, COUNTER64, ); # construct hash my %hash; @hash{@type} = @type; # now, let's validate something warn "$type[0] not INTEGER" unless $hash{$type[0]} == INTEGER;