"a,a,c,i,a,c,..." # to be used in: my ($foo, $bar, $baz, ...) = unpack_line("a,a,c,i,a,c,...", $line); # or my $parser = My::Module->new( template => "a,a,c,i,a,c,..." ); my ($foo, $bar, $baz, ...) = $parser->read_line(); #### "foo:a, bar:c, baz:i, ..." my %fields = unpack_line("foo:a, bar:c, baz:i, ...", $line);