Unfortunately I do have to keep the original order. I have written a script that puts the values into a hash, and even sorts based on numeric vs. lexical. I just don't understand the hash enough to grab info as needed. Here is my other code if it helps. Sorry it is long. 
use strict;
use vars qw(@Claim_Fields %Claim_Table);

my $data_file = "/where/the/file/is";

@Claim_Fields = (
    [ 'claim_batch_number', 'N', 'A8' ],
    [ 'claim_number', 'N', 'A6' ],
    [ 'claim_type', 'L', 'A2'],
    [ 'payment_direct', 'N', 'A2'],
    [ 'pharmacy_number', 'N', 'A6'],
    [ 'chain_number', 'N', 'A4'],
    [ 'pharmacy_name', 'L', 'A30'],
    [ 'reject_code_1', 'N', 'A4'],
    [ 'reject_code_2', 'N', 'A4'],
    [ 'rx_number', 'N', 'A8'],
    ...#many more fields follow);

%Claim_Table = get_table();
Main:
{
    my $sort_by = $ARGV[0];
    open(CLAIMS, $data_file) or die "CANNOT OPEN FILE: $!";

    my @claim_records = ();
    while (<CLAIMS>) {
       my  $x = $_;
       while(length($x gt 0))
       {
       $_ = substr($x, 0, 434);
       $x = substr($x, 434);
       push(@claim_records, read_record($_));
       }
    }
    close(CLAIMS);
    &Sort_File($sort_by, @claim_records);
}
sub Sort_File {
    my ($sort_by, @claim_records) = @_;
    my $sort_sub;
    # If the sorting type is numeric
    if ( $Claim_Table{$sort_by} eq 'N' ) {
        # Create sub for numeric sort
        $sort_sub = sub { $a->{$sort_by} <=> $b->+
$sort_by} };
    } # End if numeric
    # Otherwise it's lexical
    else {
        # Create sub for lexical sort
        $sort_sub = sub { $a->{$sort_by} cmp $b-> +{$sort_by} };
    }
    foreach my $record ( sort $sort_sub @claim_records ) {
        print STDOUT $record->{$sort_by}, "\n";
    }
}
sub read_record {
    my ($line) = @_;
    my %claim_record = ();
    @claim_record{ get_fields() } = unpack( get_template(), $line);
    return \%claim_record;
}
sub get_fields {
    my @fields = ();
    foreach my $claim_field ( @Claim_Fields ) {
        push(@fields, $claim_field->[0]);
    }
    return @fields;
}
sub get_template {
    my $template = '';
    foreach my $claim_field ( @Claim_Fields ) {
        $template .= $claim_field->[2];
    }
    return $template;
}
sub get_table {
    my %table = ();
    foreach my $claim_field ( @Claim_Fields ) {
        $table{$claim_field->[0]} = $claim_field->[1];
    }
    return %table;
}

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This creates the hash and sorts by whatever field is entered on the command line, but that is where I get lost. I don't know how to get to the correct associated fields. Prince99

Too Much is never enough...

In reply to Re: Re: Sorting arrays and maintaining an index by Prince99
in thread Sorting arrays and maintaining an index by Prince99

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