#!/usr/bin/perl -w %clocks=("10", 0,"10.20.20.10", 0,"10.20.46.13", 0,"10.20.46.37",0); my $miss=; chomp $miss; #my $miss="10"; print "'\Q$miss\E'\n"; if (exists $clocks{$miss}){ print "Yup it's there\n"; } __DATA__ 10.20.46.13