@fields =  split /,/, $response, 39;

##</code><code>##

($date,$time,$type...) = ...

##</code><code>##

use constant DATE => 0;
use constant TIME => 1;
use constant TYPE => 2;
...

my @fields = split /,/, $response, 39;

if ($fields[TYPE] eq 'widget') ...

##</code><code>##

my @fields = qw(date time type ...);
my %response;

@response{@fields} =  split /,/, $response, 39; # hash slice

if ($response{type} eq 'widget') {...