my $Hashref = $data[ $fileCount ]; if( not $Hashref){ my %newHashThatIsOnlyNamedHere; $Hashref = $data[ $fileCount ] = \%newHashThatIsOnlyNamedHere; } my $key = shift @col; my $Arrayref = $Hashref->{ $key }; if( not $Arrayref ){ my @newArrayThatIsOnlyNamedHere; $Arrayref = $Hashref->{ $key } = \@newArrayThatIsOnlyNamedHere; } push @{ $Arrayref }, \@col;