#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w use strict; use Data::Dumper; my $row = { title => 'Part1' }; my $parts = [ 'Part1', 'Part2','Part3' ]; my $newLoop = [ map +{ 'PARTNAME' => $_, $row->{title} eq $_ ? ('SELECTED' => 1) : (), }, @$parts ] ; warn Dumper($newLoop);