my @reports = qw /doc_request doc_errors doc_types /; my %rpt = ( doc_request => [ "T_Doc_Request, N_Doc_Request, X_Doc_Request" ], doc_errors => [ "T_Doc_Errors, N_Doc_Errors, X_Doc_Errors" ], doc_types => [ "T_Doc_Types, N_Doc_Errors, X_Doc_Errors" ], ); my @queries; foreach (@reports) { @queries = split /,/, "@{$rpt{$_}}"; foreach (@queries) { print "section is: $_\n"; } splice(@queries); }