sub insert_subset { my ($sth, $generation, @members) = @_; for my $x (@members) { $sth->execute($generation, $x); } } my $dbh = DBI->connect(...); # fill in your connection parameters here my $sth = $dbh->prepare("INSERT INTO Random_region_lookup_table_TEMP (Generation_number, Place_key) VALUES (?,?)"); ... my %seen; for my $generation (1..10) { my @members = random_subset($nregions, 5); # 5 element subsets, e.g. my $key = join(" ", @members); # note: members already sorted redo if $seen{$key}; # make sure the subsets are unique $seen{$key} = 1; insert_subset($sth, $generation, @members); }