Think it through. What exactly are you sorting on? If you want to sort on the first value, then the second, then the third, and sort asciibetically, then just do a sort on @DB. However, if you want to sort

• On the second value, then the fourth value, then the first, etc
• Each value differently, like the first value numerically, the second asciibetically, etc

then, you have to split each line up into its component parts. Something like the following will help:

my @records =
    sort {
        $a->[0] <=> $b->[0]
            ||
        $a->[1] cmp $b->[1]
            ||
        $a->[2] cmp $b->[2]
            ||
        $a->[3] <=> $b->[3]
    } map {
        [ split '#', $_ ]
    } map {
        chomp;
        $_
    } @DB;
[download]

You have to read that code from bottom to top.

1. You have all the lines in @DB
2. Take each line and perform a chomp on it. Since chomp() returns the character(s) removed (if any), you need to explicitly return $_
3. Create an array reference containing the values in the record (using split(), just like you were)
4. Sort those records based on the elements of the record. <=> is a numeric sort. cmp is an asciibetical sort.

When it's all done, @records will be an array containing array references. If you need more explanation, please ask.

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