foreach (3..$count_columns){ $header=`cut -f1,2,$_ $file | head -n1`; chomp $header; $cmd="cut -f1,2,$_ $file | grep -P \'^\\w+\' | grep -P -v \'^Sample\' > $file\.2"; system($cmd); $cmd="perl -pi -e s\'/^/$header\\t/g\' $file\.2"; system($cmd); }