@pod = qw(HostCycle Instinet index); $extension{index} = '.pod'; for (@pod) { # Assuming there's no '0' or blank extensions $infile_extension = $extension{$_} || '.pm'; # Otherwise use this #$infile_extension = exists $extension{$_} ? $extension{$_} : '.pm'; # Check status ? system "pod2html $_$infile_extension > $_.html" and die "pod2html failed: $!"; }