$html_this_file = "5|8|2#3#4#5|5";

my @split = split(/\|/, "$html_this_file");
my @prefs = split(/\#/, $split[2]);

$count = 0;
foreach  (@split) {
	print "\$split[".$count++."] = $_\n";
}

$count = 0;
foreach  (@prefs) {
	print "prefs ".$count++." = $_\n";
}