Yes, if you want to use XML::Simple to output XML then you do need to store the data in a hash. If it's not already in a hash then that might be a roundabout way of achieving your aims. You may also find that the loss of ordering which results from using a hash is a problem - if you don't get the results you want quickly then try another approach, XML::Simple's forte is really the reading side of things. There are one or two modules specifically for writing XML but I have no experience with them, print works for me.