@ID = qw(1 1 2 3 4 4 6 6); @Value_1 = qw(a a a a a a a a ); @Value_2 = qw(b b b b b b b b ); @Value_3 = qw(c d c c c d c d); #### if (($Entry > 0) && ($ID[$Entry] eq $ID[$Entry - 1])) { if ($Value_1[$Entry] =~ m/($Value_1[$Entry - 1])/) { $Placeholder = join(' / '$Value_1[$Entry], $Value_1[$Entry - 1]); delete $Value[$Entry - 1]; push(@Value, $Placeholder); etc... }