That's a perfect use for an array, my @lines = <IN>; that way you don't need to keep track of all those names, and the number of lines adjusts the array size automatically.

After Compline,
Zaxo

use strict;
use warnings;

my %hash;
while (my $line = <DATA>) {
    my ($key,$value) = $line =~ /^\s*(.+?)\s*=\s*([^\s]+?)\s*$/;
    $hash{$key}=$value;
}
foreach ( keys %hash ) {
    print $_, "=", $hash{$_}, "\n";
}

__DATA__
Test 1 = 10
Test 2 = 20
Test 3 = 30
[download]

The preceding example strips leading and trailing whitespace from the keys and values stored in the file prior to inserting the key/value pairs into a hash for later use. The example breaks down if your keys or values actually contain '=' signs embedded within. I didn't use split because I wanted simpler control over the stripping of whitespace. The example also preserves whitespace if it occurs embedded within a key, but disallows it in the value. You could easily change that behavior.

Hope this helps...

Dave

"If I had my life to do over again, I'd be a plumber." -- Albert Einstein

#use strict;
#use warnings;

my $counter = 0;

while (<DATA>) {
   eval "\$a" . $counter++ . " = '$_';";
}
print "$a0 $a1 $a2";

__DATA__
line 1
line 2
line 3
[download]

rdfield

DO NOT DO THIS

This method is called "soft references". It is a capability of Perl, but there are very few reasons to actually use it. In nearly every isntance, hashes are much better, safer, and cleaner. There are many reasons why soft references don't compile under strict. Unless you know exactly why you shouldn't use soft references, DON'T USE SOFT REFERENCES!

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

The idea is a little like C++ templates, except not quite so brain-meltingly complicated. -- TheDamian, Exegesis 6

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.