Hello perlnewby and welcome to the monastery

I made some guesses at what I think you're intending to do and am by no means the most-sophisticated coder around here, but I think I'll be able to help you along a bit, as I do have some output that you can look at and compare to your needs. I had to change a few things to get it to run at all, so I'll list the new script:

use strict;
use diagnostics;
use warnings;
use autodie qw(open close);
use Data::Dump qw(dump);

#declare variables
my %hash;
my $data;

#opening Files using autodie to cut typing...
open my $in,   '<', "Test_Data_RandNumbers.txt";
open my $in1,  '<', "Test_Data_More_RandNumbers.txt";
open my $out,  '>', "OUT_Test_Data_Ita_SpanFren_rest.txt";
open my $out1, '>', "OUT_Test_data_NO_match_SpanFren.txt";

#open my $out2,'>' , "./Test_Data_Out_None_Match.txt";

while (<$in>) {

  #data manipulation to clean up ='s and ,'s
  #dieci = diez,   zehn  -->worse case, remove spaces and = and comma;
  #quattro = quatro -->only one number with spaces or not in from of =
+...
  chomp;
  my ( $ita, $spa, $num ) = split(/[=\s,]+/); # removes '=' or 's' or 
+',' & '+' to match 1 or more these characters
  $hash{$ita}[0] = $spa;

  #what about if there is no $num at position 1 in 1st file?
  if ( !defined $num ) {
    $hash{$ita}[1] =
      $num;    # if defined then keep it for check later in position 2
+ in array
  }
}
close $in;

while (<$in1>) {
  chomp;
  my ( $ita, $fren, $num1, $num2 ) = split(/[=\s,]+/);   #creates col 
+of numbers
  $hash{$ita}[1] = $fren;  #now hashs format will look like this: ita=
+> spa fren
       #define if there is are numbers in position 3 and 4 concat to p
+osition 3
  if ( defined($num1) and defined($num2) ) {
    $hash{$ita}[3] = $num1
      . $num2;    # concat if numbers defined in poition 1 and 2 and s
+tore in 3
  }
  elsif ( defined $num1 ) {
    $hash{$ita}[3] =
      $num1;    #if array has num in pos 2 then save number in positio
+n 3(dieci)
  }
}
close $in1;

foreach my $ita ( keys %hash ) {
  if ( $hash{$ita}[0] and $hash{$ita}[1] ) {
    print $out "$ita =>", join( ',', @{ $hash{$ita} } ), "\n"; #line 5
+4
  }
  else {
    print $out1 "$ita =>", join( ',', @{ $hash{$ita} } ), "\n";
  }
}

close $out;
close $out1;
[download]

New data sets of same cardinality:

Test_Data_More_RandNumbers.txt:
due =deux, two,
tre = trois,drei,    
attro = quatre,four
cinque = cinq,funf, five
sei = six  , six
sette = sept    ,   seven   ,sechs
dieci =dix
undici = onze,eleven
tredici = treize,thirteen, dreizehn

Test_Data_RandNumbers.txt:
uno = uno,eins
due = dos,zwei
tre = tres,drei
quattro = quatro
cinque = cinco,funf
sei = seis,
sette = siete,sechs
otto = ocho
nouve = nueve, neun
[download]

I changed the path of the file to be opened to be in the same as the script. "../" opens the parent, but I don't know what "./" was to open. I added a period where you indicated there was to be concatenation, which seems apropos. I changed the subscript 1 to correspond to the second position, as it usually does. Since I was drawing a warning that I was using an unitialized variable on line 54, I changed the data sets to be equally-long. I marked line 54 for those who might diagnose it better. I uncommented the close statements. Finally, I ran it through perltidy, which I heartily recommend. Here is the output:

C:\Users\Fred\Desktop\pm>type OUT*

OUT_Test_Data_Ita_SpanFren_rest.txt

sei =>seis,six,,six
quattro =>quatro,quatre,,four
due =>dos,deux,,two
sette =>siete,sept,,sevensechs
cinque =>cinco,cinq,,funffive
tre =>tres,trois,,dreithree

OUT_Test_data_NO_match_SpanFren.txt

dieci =>,dix
uno =>uno
nouve =>nueve
otto =>ocho,
undici =>,onze,,eleven
tredici =>,treize,,thirteendreizehn
[download]

Clearly there's some comma issues at a minimum, but there is output, and just having that can help you be specific about what you need to modify. Many happy adventures with perl.

sorry, I didn't mean to make you guess.

GOAL:find the common Italian number in both files that contains both Spanish and French translations (did that). Then,I added complexity to my learning by adding other number translations (german, english) and build the match file to contain these.

lastly, to dump the numbers that don't have a matching Italian number in any.

things I'd hope to learn.

1) HASH_REF 2) Print HASH_REF 3)conditionals (if,else,define) with hash_ref 4)Concat ( now, I know needs a (.) THANKS TO YOU! although I saw an example where it didn't and that's what I followed) 5) play with SPLIT to remove =,spaces:/ and stuff.

Questions for clarity

:

EXAMPLE snippet1 I modeled my concat syntax, why the Difference? why mine didn't work?

    chomp;
    my($col1,$col2,$rest)=split(/\t/);
    my $ckey="$col1$col2"   #<= NO PERIOD!
[download]

question 2, what does this piece do?can you explain your addition of "!"? I'm thinking, if the $num is UNDEF then go into loop...is this thinking correct?

if (!defined $num){
[download]

Output of Not a match of Italian number in either file has a printing bug I would like to remove. Please note, there is no French number in spot1 and so it gives ",," instead, how to remove these?

nouve =>nueve,,neun
uno =>uno,,eins
[download]

I build my hash as follows:

Italian => Spanish, French, whatever

so in this case, one number is not found in the other and so the spot is just filled with ",,"

NEED HELP:how to order the numbers on output?, any ideas???

CORRECTED my hash structure like this since concat didn't print like I wanted

    my ($ita,$fren,$num1,$num2)= split(/[=\s,]+/); #creates col of num
+bers
    $hash{$ita}[1]=$fren; #now hash_ref format will look like this: it
+a=> spa , fren
    #define if there is are numbers in position 3 and 4 concat to posi
+tion 3
     if (defined ($num1)){
         $hash{$ita}[3]=$num1; # % looks like this: Ita=> Spa, Fren, R
+andNUM[3]
     } 
     if (defined $num2){
         $hash{$ita}[4]=$num2; # % looks like this Ita=> Span,Fren, Ra
+ndnum[3]?(ifdefined), Randnum[4]
         }           
    }
[download]

somehow I feel there is a better way to do this...can hash of hashes be better? I don't know yet, I guess I need to learn that next...

GRAZIE MILLE

As a humble scribe, I welcome the opportunity to assist you in this matter. It's a challenge for me to understand exactly what you intend, and it is for you as well. The exercise of writing and debugging perl helps us to specify our intent, in particular, when informed by the script, input, and output. Having read your response, I've changed all three. I changed the input back to what you posted in the original post. I made several changes to the script; it's best just to list it before commenting too much:

use strict;
use diagnostics;
use warnings;
use autodie qw(open close);
use Data::Dumper;
use 5.010;

#declare variables
my %hash;
my $data;

#opening Files using autodie to cut typing...
open my $in,   '<', "Test_Data_RandNumbers.txt";
open my $in1,  '<', "Test_Data_More_RandNumbers.txt";
open my $out,  '>', "OUT_Test_Data_Ita_SpanFren_rest.txt";
open my $out1, '>', "OUT_Test_data_NO_match_SpanFren.txt";

#open my $out2,'>' , "./Test_Data_Out_None_Match.txt";

while (<$in>) {

  #data manipulation to clean up ='s and ,'s
  #dieci = diez,   zehn  -->worse case, remove spaces and = and comma;
  #quattro = quatro -->only one number with spaces or not in from of =
+...
  chomp;
  my ( $ita, $spa, $num ) = split(/[=\s,]+/); 
   say "values are $ita $spa $num";
  $hash{$ita}[0] = $spa;

  #what about if there is no $num at position 1 in 1st file?
  if ( defined $num ) {
    $hash{$ita}[2] =
      $num;  
  }
}
close $in;

while (<$in1>) {
  chomp;
  my ( $ita, $fren, $num1, $num2 ) = split(/[=\s,]+/);   
  say "values are $ita $fren $num1 $num2";
  $hash{$ita}[1] = $fren;  #now hash's format will look like this: ita
+=> spa fren
    #define if there are numbers in position 3 and 4 concat to positio
+n 3
  if ( defined($num1) and defined($num2) ) {
    $hash{$ita}[3] = "$num1 $num2";   
    }
  elsif ( defined $num1 ) {
    $hash{$ita}[3] =
      $num1;   
  }
}
close $in1;

foreach my $ita ( keys %hash ) {
  if ( $hash{$ita}[0] and $hash{$ita}[1] ) {
    print $out "$ita =>", join( ',', @{ $hash{$ita} } ), "\n";
  }
  else {
    print $out1 "$ita =>", join( ',', @{ $hash{$ita} } ), "\n";
  }
}

print Dumper(\%hash);

close $out;
close $out1;
[download]

I use the feature "say" to understand what values are going into the script. I get a lot of undefined values, but they don't "sink the ship," as it were. I re-wrote my concatenation syntax to mimic yours--I added a space in the middle of a quoted string--yet I wonder if this is actually what you want as far as the logic is concerned. Let's take a look at the output:

C:\Users\Fred\Desktop\pm>type OUT*

OUT_Test_Data_Ita_SpanFren_rest.txt

sei =>seis,six,,six
quattro =>quatro,quatre,,four
due =>dos,deux,zwei,two
dieci =>diez,dix,zehn
sette =>siete,sept,sechs,seven sechs
cinque =>cinco,cinq,funf,funf five
undici =>once,onze,elf,eleven
tre =>tres,trois,drei,drei three
tredici =>trece,treize,dreizehn,thirteen dreizehn

OUT_Test_data_NO_match_SpanFren.txt

dodici =>doce
uno =>uno,,eins
nouve =>nueve,,neun
otto =>ocho
[download]

More informative might be the output from STDOUT:

$VAR1 = {
          'sei' => [
                     'seis',
                     'six',
                     '',
                     'six'
                   ],
          'quattro' => [
                         'quatro',
                         'quatre',
                         undef,
                         'four'
                       ],
          'due' => [
                     'dos',
                     'deux',
                     'zwei',
                     'two '
                   ],
          'dieci' => [
                       'diez',
                       'dix',
                       'zehn'
                     ],
          'sette' => [
                       'siete',
                       'sept',
                       'sechs',
                       'seven sechs'
                     ],
          'dodici' => [
                        'doce'
                      ],
          'uno' => [
                     'uno',
                     undef,
                     'eins'
                   ],
          'nouve' => [
                       'nueve',
                       undef,
                       'neun'
                     ],
          'cinque' => [
                        'cinco',
                        'cinq',
                        'funf',
                        'funf five'
                      ],
          'otto' => [
                      'ocho'
                    ],
          'undici' => [
                        'once',
                        'onze',
                        'elf',
                        'eleven'
                      ],
          'tre' => [
                     'tres',
                     'trois',
                     'drei',
                     'drei three'
                   ],
          'tredici' => [
                         'trece',
                         'treize',
                         'dreizehn',
                         'thirteen dreizehn'
                       ]
        };
[download]

I ask you to inspect the output. Aside from the commas, is this what you want? It seems to me that the commas is a cosmetic issue, while determining the fundamental logic is primary. What's more, I don't think you want concatenation, as it produces duplicate values. But, as a humble scribe, I have no means to scry.

This  $hash{$ita}[3]=$num1$num2; # concat if

See the docs for "concat",  [perldoc://concat] concat -> http://perldoc.perl.org/perlintro.html#Miscallaneous