open(OUT,">Output.txt") or die "Can't open output.txt for writing:$!\n"; open(IN, "; foreach $line (@array) { chomp ($line); if ($line =~ /^OPT:/) { $var = $'; @param = split / /, $var; $first = $param[1]; print "$first\n"; if ($first==1) { # This is not working as desired $start = 1; } else { $skip = 1; } } elsif ($start == 1 || $skip==1) { if ($line =~ /^]/) { $start = 0; $skip = 0; } elsif ($skip == 0) { printf (OUT "$line\n"); } } else { printf (OUT "$line\n"); } }