#!/usr/bin/perl open(IN, '<', "cont.fil"); my %fvalues; while(){ if (/(.*) (.*)/){ $fvalues{$2} = $1; print "$fvalues{$2}\n"; # this one prints } } for($counter = 0 ; $counter < 10 ; $counter++){ print "$fvalues{$counter}" ; # no output } close(IN); #### 58-OA-A0125 1 58-OA-A0244 2 58-OA-A0264 3 58-ST-A0112 4 58-ST-A0179 5