my @information; open(IN,"<$file"); while() { my $line = $_; chomp $line; my($lastname, $firstname, $country, $language) = split('\|', $line); #print"$lastname, $firstname, $country, $language\n"; push @information, { 'lastname' => $lastname, 'firstname' => $firstname, 'country' => $country, 'language' => $language, } }