@array = ( [5,7,2],[9,4,8],[1,6,3]);
after sort results= ( [1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9] );

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl
use Data::Dumper;

$sample= [ [5,7,2],
           [9,4,8],
           [1,6,3]];

$idx = $#$sample;

for ($row=0; $row <= $idx; $row++) {
   if ( $#{$sample->[$row]} != $idx) {die "not a square table\n";}
   else { push @unsorted, @{$sample->[$row]};}
  }

@sorted = sort { $a <=> $b } @unsorted;

for ($row=0; $row <= $idx; $row++) {
   my $count = 0;
   while ($count <= $idx) {
      $sample->[$row][$count] = shift @sorted;
      $count++;
     }
   }

print Dumper($sample);