my %hash1 = (
        key1 => 'relative_path',
        key2 => {
                key21 => 'another_relative_path',
                key22 => '/an_absolute_path',
                key23 => 'relative_path',
        },
        key3 => '',
        key4 => 4
);

##</code><code>##

$hash1{key1}
$hash1{key2}{key22}
$hash1{key2}{key23}

##</code><code>##

my %hash2 = (
        key1 => "$home_path/relative_path",
        key2 => {
                key21 => 'another_relative_path',
                key22 => '/an_absolute_path',
                key23 => "$home_path/relative_path",
        },
        key3 => '',
        key4 => 4
);

##</code><code>##

@list = ('key1','key2:key22','key2:key23');