#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use diagnostics; use Data::Dumper; my $Messages = { '21:32:15.111' => ["233.156.208.11:2004", "214111"], # Using the Time Stamp as a key '21:32:15.222' => ["233.156.208.22:2004", "214222"], # to an anonymous array containing '21:32:15.333' => ["233.156.208.33:2004", "214333"], # milliseconds and "Pending Number". }; print Dumper($Messages); # Used to check the contents of your variables. __END__ $VAR1 = { '21:32:15.222' => [ '233.156.208.22:2004', '214222' ], '21:32:15.111' => [ '233.156.208.11:2004', '214111' ], '21:32:15.333' => [ '233.156.208.33:2004', '214333' ] };