while ( <$contin> ) { if ( $contractors =~ m/^$string(.*)/ ) { my @results = split(m#\s+#, $1); print br; print @results; } } close( $contin ); } #### if ( $contractors =~ m/^$string(.*)/ ) #### while ( <$contin> ) { if ($_ =~ m/^$contractor(.*)/) { my @results = split(m#\s+#, $1); print br; print @results; } } close( $contin ); }