use Data::Dumper; #define your hash here %HOH = ( Pegname1 => { section1 => { val1 => 'Value 1' }, section2 => { val2 => 'Value 2' } section3 => { val3 => 'Value 3' } Pegname2 => { section1 => { val1 => 'Value 1' }, section2 => { val2 => 'Value 2' } section3 => { val3 => 'Value 3' } ) #print its contents print Dumper(\%HOH);