my $r = { field1 => [qw( black blue red )], field2 => [qw( black red )], field3 => [qw( blue )], }; ... change $r->param(...) to $r->{...} ... my $row_num = 0; printf(" %-6s %-6s %-6s\n", @array_pos); printf(" %-6s %-6s %-6s\n", ('-'x6)x3); foreach my $row (\@field1, \@field2, \@field3) { printf("%d: ", $row_num++); foreach my $col (0..2) { printf("%-6s ", $row->[$col]); } print("\n"); } black blue red ------ ------ ------ 0: black blue red 1: black red 2: blue