open all files grab all lines from file 1 - split each line into 3 strings( $number, $year, $string) concatenate $number.$year into one $searchvalue make hash with keys of $searchvalue and values of $string populate array1 with these $searchvalues grab all lines from file 2 into array2 compare array1 to array2 where value from array1 doesn't find a match in file2, print hash value with the key of $searchvalue to file results