#open files here my $counter = 0; my %slotarray; while ( ) { my $dpdrivloc = "MSL6000 Trinity"; if ( /\Q$dpdrivloc\E:\s*(\d+)/ ) { $slotarray{$counter} = "$1"; #print OUTFILE "$1"; $counter++; } } foreach my $key (keys %slotarray) { print OUTFILE "$key: $slotarray{$key}\n"; } #close files here