use Getopt::Long; my (@foos, @bars, @bazen, @quuxi); GetOptions ( 'foos=s' => \@foos, 'bars=s' => \@bars, 'bazen=s' => \@bazen, 'quuxi=s' => \@quuxi ); # Obnoxious first cut podded out =begin comment @foos = split /,/, join ',', @foos; @bars = split /,/, join ',', @bars; @bazen = split /,/, join ',', @bazen; @quuxi = split /,/, join ',', @quuxi; =end comment