You are quick

But what if the json is fluid, and $data->{sections}[3] is not always directions, but you want to do the directions? Just search for directions and keep its reference!

 
use strict; use warnings;
my $data = {
          'sections' => [
               {
               'images' => [],
               'level' => 1,
               'content' => [],
               'title' => '10-minute Turkey'
               },
               {
               'images' => [],
               'level' => 2,
               'content' => [
                            {
                            'text' => 'Makes 4 servings.',
                            'type' => 'paragraph'
                            }
                            ],
               'title' => 'Description'
               },
               {
               'images' => [],
               'level' => 2,
               'content' => [
                            {
                            'elements' => [
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'abc'
                                          },
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'efg'
                                          },
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'hij'
                                          },
                                          ],
                             'type' => 'list'
                                          }
                            ],
                            'title' => 'Ingredients'
                          },
                          {
                            'images' => [],
                            'level' => 2,
               'content' => [
                            {
                            'elements' => [
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'tuv'
                                          },
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'wxy'
                                          },
                                          {
                                          'elements' => [],
                                          'text' => 'z12'
                                          },
                                          ],
                             'type' => 'list'
                             }
                             ],
                            'title' => 'Directions'
                            }
                   ]
        };


#deepdump($data,'$data->'); 
my $directions; 
for my $i (@{$data->{sections}}) { 
  if ($i->{title} eq 'Directions') {$directions=$i}
  } 
if ($directions) { deepdump($directions,'$directions->'); }

sub deepdump { 
my $data=shift; 
my $isname=shift; 
my $iam=ref $data;

if ($iam eq 'HASH') { 
  my @keys=keys(%$data); 
  if (0==scalar(@keys)){print $isname.'={}'."\n";}  
  else {for my $k (@keys) { deepdump($data->{$k},$isname.'{'.$k.'}'); 
+} }
  } # hash 
elsif ($iam eq 'ARRAY') { 
  my $ict=0; 
  if (0==scalar(@$data)){print $isname.'=[]'."\n";}  
  else {for my $i (@$data) { deepdump($data->[$ict],$isname.'['.$ict.'
+]'); $ict++} }
  } # array 
else {print $isname.'='.$data."\n";}
} 

exit;
[download]

$directions->{title}=Directions
$directions->{level}=2
$directions->{content}[0]{type}=list
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[0]{elements}=[]
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[0]{text}=tuv
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[1]{elements}=[]
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[1]{text}=wxy
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[2]{text}=z12
$directions->{content}[0]{elements}[2]{elements}=[]
$directions->{images}=[]
[download]

Didn't realize you'd posted more - sorry for delay in replying! Thanks. Yeah, that's awesome stuff.

I did get a chance to play with the original code you posted and got it working nicely with what I need to do, and I can learn something from that for sure. I'll look at the new bits you've posted too, as I'm sure that will come in handy.

Thanks again!