here s my code: foreach $file(@cad_err_list) { chomp($file); $err_loan_id1 = `grep 'DataDictionary' $file`; @err_loan_id2 = split(/<pciOFACViolation>/, $err_loan_id1); $reqd_1 = $err_loan_id2[0]; @err_loan_id3 = split(/\s/,$reqd_1); $reqd_2 = $err_loan_id32; @err_loan_id = split(/>/,$reqd_2); }