for my $i (0 .. $#$AoAref){ my $aref = $AoAref->[$i]; print "array is: $aref\n"; $arg1 = $aref if $aref->[0] == "160001"; $arg2 = $aref if $aref->[0] == "170001"; $arg3 = $aref if $aref->[0] == "670002"; }