# 639260.pl # 639260.xml contains xml data use strict; use warnings; use XML::Simple; use Data::Dumper; my $ref = XMLin(); print Dumper($ref); $ref->{LOCATION}->{name} = '1stfloor'; print Dumper($ref); __END__ $ perl -wl 639260.pl $VAR1 = { 'url' => 'http://somewhere', 'PROJECT' => { 'name' => 'test_project' }, 'USER' => { 'email' => 'some@email.com' } }; $VAR1 = { 'LOCATION' => { 'name' => '1stfloor' }, 'url' => 'http://somewhere', 'PROJECT' => { 'name' => 'test_project' }, 'USER' => { 'email' => 'some@email.com' } };