my $conf = { scriptpath => { R-Solaris => '....', R-Linux => '....', UNC-Windows => '....', ... }, confdir => { R-Solaris => '....', R-Linux => '....', UNC-Windows => '....', ... }, ... } #### my $conf={}; sub conf { $conf{$_[0]}={ R-Solaris => $_[1], R-Linux => $_[2], UNC-Windows => $_[3], ... } } conf('scriptpath','...',...); conf('confdir',........);