my %data; $data{a} = 1; $data{b} = 2; $data{c} = 3; my $combined = join ' ', map { "$_=$data{$_}" } grep { $data{$_} } sort keys %data; #### our $a = 1; our $b = 2; our $c = 3; my $combined = join ' ', map { "$_->[0]=$_->[1]" } grep { $_->[1] } map { [ $_, do { no strict 'refs'; ${$_} } ] } qw(a b c); #### my $a = 1; my $b = 2; my $c = 3; my $combined = join ' ', map { "$_->[0]=$_->[1]" } grep { $_->[1] } map { [ $_, eval('$'.$_) ] } qw(a b c); #### my $combined; foreach (sort keys %data) { my $val = $data{$_}; # OR: my $val = do { no strict 'refs'; ${$_} }; # OR: my $val = eval('$'.$_); next unless $val; $combined .= "$_=$val "; } chop($combined);