_ @s_dn=("c=US,ou=NUM,cn=foo", "c=DE,ou=NUM,cn=foo"); @dn=@s_dn; my $number=0; for(my $i=0; $i<3; $i++,$number++) { for(@dn) { s/NUM/$number/g} # now I would save this dn and other stuff now. print @dn; print "\tou= should be $number\n"; }