if (int($colLens[$x]) < length($rec1)) { printf "colLens:%s, rec1:%s\n", $colLens[$x], $rec1; $colLens[$x] = length($rec1); ... #### for (my $y = 0; $y <= $#header; $y++) { $colLens[$y] = length($header[$y]); } #### @colLens = map length, @header;