sub TenLinesToHash { my( $fh ) = @_; my %hash; my $line = <$fh>; chomp($line); $hash{header} = $line; $line = <$fh>; chomp($line); @hash{qw/ header2 ix1 page1 /} = unpack 'A30 A3 x33 x6 A3', $line }; ... return \%hash; }