@fields = split /,/, $response, 39; #### ($date,$time,$type...) = ... #### use constant DATE => 0; use constant TIME => 1; use constant TYPE => 2; ... my @fields = split /,/, $response, 39; if ($fields[TYPE] eq 'widget') ... #### my @fields = qw(date time type ...); my %response; @response{@fields} = split /,/, $response, 39; # hash slice if ($response{type} eq 'widget') {...