@$spr_hash{$file_name} = ; #### @{$spr_hash{$file_name}} = ; #### use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dumper; my $file_name = 'test.txt'; my %spr_hash; $spr_hash{$file_name} = []; @$spr_hash{$file_name} = qw(1 2 3); print Dumper [ %spr_hash ];