use strict; use warnings; use Data::Search; use Data::Dumper; $Data::Dumper::Useqq=1; $Data::Dumper::Terse=1; my $href = { foo => { child1 => { gchild1 => { values => { bar1 => 1, bar2 => 1 } } }, child2 => { gchild1 => { values => { bar1 => 1, bar9 => 1 } }, gchild2 => { values => { bar2 => 1, bar3 => 1 } }, }, child3 => { values => { bar1 => 1, bar2 => 1, bar4 => 1, bar5 => 1 } }, }, }; for my $wanted ( qw( bar5 bar3 bar2 ) ) { my @results = datasearch( data => $href, search => 'keys', find => qr{ \A $wanted \z }msx, return => 'container', ); print "Found key '$wanted' in these hashrefs: ", Dumper @results; }