while (){ $string = $string.$_; } @individual = split /\$\$\$\$/,$string; foreach $i (@individual){ print "inside outer foreach\n"; foreach $h (@headers){ print "inside header foreach - appending tags\n"; @seperate = $i."> <$h>\n"; } @seperate = $i.'$$$$'; } open (OUT, ">outtest.out"); print OUT @seperate;