use Data::Dumper; $h{"a", 1, "b", 2} = 1; $h{a1b2} = 2; print Dumper \%h; #### $VAR1 = { 'a1b2' => 2, 'a1b2' => 1 }; #### use Data::Dumper; $h{"a", 1, "b", 2} = 1; $h{a1b2} = 2; $_ = Dumper \%h; s/(\P{IsPrint})/"\\x{".sprintf "%04x}", ord $1/ge; print #### $VAR1 = { 'a1b2' => 2, 'a\x{001c}1\x{001c}b\x{001c}2' => 1 };