use strict; use warnings; my $line = ; while (defined($line = )) { chomp($line); my @items = (split /\s*:\s*/, $line); printf "Customer Name: %-16s Number of Books checked out:%3u\n", $items[0], $items[5]; } __DATA__ customer:field1:field2:field3:field4:num_checked_out wilma flintstone :1:m:n:o:3 barney rubble:1:e:i:o:5 Sam Slate :1:3:2:1:0 Great Gazoo:1:1:2:3:2 Charlie "the Angel" Harper:1:a:b:c:4 Neil Gruesome:1:x:y:z:1026