my %hashtable = ( STATION1 => { code => 'blue', parameters => ['a','b','c','d'], range => [4,7,6,9] }, STATION2 => { code => 'green', parameters => ['b','c','d','e'], range => [6,2,5,7] }, STATION3 => { code => 'red', parameters => ['a','c','d','e'], range => [8,2,1,5] }, );