open (FILE,$file); # $file is a |-delimited file
my @header = ('h1','h2','h3'); # I already know the headings
my %values; # make a hash of hashes to remember the values

while (<FILE>) {
  chomp;
  my @columns = split /\|/;
  my $unique = $columns[1]; # h2 is the unique identifier
  @values{$unique}{@header} = @values;
}