if ($_ eq $key){
                     ...

##</code><code>##

use Data::Dumper;
use strict;

# Define actual names (values) for the references (keys) in a hash table
my %mapped_vars = (  '1a' => 'One'					     '2a' => 'Two',
		     '3a' => 'Three',
		     '4a' => 'Four' );

# List of array variables that has to be evaluated. It can also have names that are NOT present in the hash table
my @arr_vars = ( '3a','9d', '4a', '7b');

my (@act_vars, $i);
my $found=0;

# Checking...
print Dumper(\%mapped_vars);
print Dumper(\@arr_vars);

foreach (@arr_vars){
	while( (my $key, my $value) = each %mapped_vars){
		print "$_-inside while()";
		if ($_ eq $key){
			push @act_vars, $value;
			$found =1;
			#last;
		}			
		#last LBL; 		
	}
	unless ($found){
		print "Inside unless()\n";
		push @act_vars, $_;
	}
	$found = 0;
	print "\n";
}

print Dumper(\@act_vars);
	

##</code><code>##

$VAR1 = {
          '3a' => 'Three',
          '2a' => 'Two',
          '4a' => 'Four',
          '1a' => 'One'
        };
$VAR1 = [
          '3a',
          '9d',
          '4a',
          '7b'
        ];

---------------------------------------
3a-inside while()3a-inside while()3a-inside while()3a-inside while()
9d-inside while()9d-inside while()9d-inside while()9d-inside while()Inside unless()

4a-inside while()4a-inside while()4a-inside while()4a-inside while()
7b-inside while()7b-inside while()7b-inside while()7b-inside while()Inside unless()
------------------------
$VAR1 = [
          'Three',
          '9d',
          'Four',
          '7b'
        ];