I could be wrong, but I wonder if perhaps you might want to store such information in an .INI file. There are many CPAN modules for working with .INI files, including the following:

• AnyData::Format::Ini
• Config::Any::INI
• Config::INI::Simple

Super Searching for ".ini" results in the following hits (among many others):

• Re: Reading from a flat text file database and storing contents in a hash
• RFC: Standard configuration interface...
• My preferred way of handling config data in Perl is:
• Config Files in Perl
• Config Files Redux

Update: You may also wish to take a look at How can I visualize my complex data structure?, which talks about other serializers.