sub Check_excluded_tables_list (@) { @tables = @_; @Excluded_tables = qw/Table_A/; foreach (@tables){ $table_name = $_; if ($table_name =~ @Excluded_tables){ $table_name = ""; } else{ # do nothing } push (@list_of_accepted_tables, $table_name); } #close list of all table names if (@tables = @list_of_accepted_tables){ $status = "good"; } else{ $status = "bad"; } }