for my $i (0 .. $#$AoAref){ my $aref = $AoAref->[$i]; print "array is: $AoAref->[$i]\n"; $arg1 = $AoAref->[$i] if $AoAref->[$i][0] == "160001"; $arg2 = $AoAref->[$i] if $AoAref->[$i][0] == "170001"; $arg3 = $AoAref->[$i] if $AoAref->[$i][0] == "670002"; }