sub dictcmp { my $ac = $a; my $bc = $b; while( 1 ) { my @a = $ac =~ /^\s*(([A-Za-z]+)|(\d+))(.*)/; my @b = $bc =~ /^\s*(([A-Za-z]+)|(\d+))(.*)/; return 0 if !defined $a[0] & !defined $b[0]; return -1 if !defined $a[0]; return 1 if !defined $b[0]; my $res; if( $a[0] =~ /\d+/ && $b[0] =~ /\d+/) { $res = $a[0] <=> $b[0]; } else { $res = $a[0] cmp $b[0]; } return $res if $res; $ac = $a[3]; $bc = $b[3]; } }