@data = map { $_->[0] } sort { $a->[3] <=> $b->[3] # YY ||$a->[1] <=> $b->[1] # MM ||$a->[2] <=> $b->[2]} # DD map { [ m!^\s*(\D*(\d+)/(\d+)/(\d+)(?: [\d.]+)*)\s*$! ] } @idata; # 0 1MM 2DD 3YY