for my $w (@words) { $find_files->execute("%$w%"); while (my ($file) = $find_files->fetchrow_array) { for my $f (split /:/, $file) { $search_library{$type}->execute($f); if (my @rec = $search_library{$type}->fetchrow_array) { $match{$rec[0]} = $rec[1]; } } } }