thank you to both of you for guiding and enlightning replies.

I have learned quite a bit through this, and have found the thrill of my first real hash.

Here is how the code currently stands (as always, a work in progress):

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

## usage information
# $0 UPSNAME HOSTNAME DATAPOINT
#       where DATAPOINT can be any of
#               UTILITY - the number VAC utility power is providing
#               LOADPCT - the percentage of the maximum load
#               BATTPCT - percent of total battery charge available
#               RUNTIME - approx. number of minutes of battery life
# note that DATAPOINTs *must* be specified in all caps

my ($key, $val, %upsdata);

foreach (`/usr/local/bin/upsc $ARGV[0]\@$ARGV[1]`) {
        ($key, $val) = /(\w+):\s(.*)(\n)?/;
        $upsdata{$key} = $val;
};

if ($ARGV[2]) {
        print "$upsdata{$ARGV[2]}\n";
} else {
        print "utility is $upsdata{UTILITY}\n";
        print "loadpct is $upsdata{LOADPCT}\n";
        print "battpct is $upsdata{BATTPCT}\n";
        print "runtime is $upsdata{RUNTIME}\n";
};
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