--Hash table definiion here-- $Test1 = "D:\\Profiles\\p57571\\Desktop\\Book3.csv"; if( -e $Test1) { print "Opening $Test1\n"; open(PACKAGEINPUT, "<$Test1"); my(@lines) = ; foreach $temp(@lines) { chomp $temp; if( $temp =~ m/\S/ig) { #find the extension my $fileExt = substr( $temp, -3 ) ||''; #this searches for exe's then any coresponding dlls if( $fileExt eq 'exe' ) { foreach my $element( split /,/, $temp) { if( $element =~ m/\.exe/) { #print "element = $element\n"; } } } else { print "temp = $temp\n"; %HastTempRec = $temp; } } } } else { print "$Test1 does not exist\n"; }