Hi please need realy help. I am new in perl here is what i am looking for input file : collected by : n/a collection agency code : canadian bonded credit ltee code ban activity type cycle status ---- --------- ---------------------- ----- ------------ bch 300008827 financial activity 5 canceled ar-activity : payment activity-amt : 84.60 activity date : 07/15/2008 bch 300340698 financial activity 7 canceled ar-activity : invoice receipt activity-amt : 13.01 activity date : 07/17/2008 report totals bans : 2 what i want out in 2 file first file working) ban code activity type cycle status second file : (not working) ban ar-activity activity-amt activity date what i am trying to do once hit the ":" split the info and print fthe record while ($record = <arca>) { $record =~ s/[\r\n]+/ /g; # remove cr and/or lf and replace with space if (substr($record,40,12) eq "report date:"){ $reportdate = substr($record,53,10); } if (int(substr($record,7,9)) >= int(300000000)||(substr($record,7,9)) >= int(500000000)){ $ban = substr($record,7,9); print outputfile trim($reportdate); # as report date, print outputfile $delimiter; print outputfile trim(substr($record,1,6)); # as code, print outputfile $delimiter; print outputfile trim($ban); # as ban, print outputfile $delimiter; print outputfile trim(substr($record,49,12)); # as ban status, print outputfile $delimiter; print outputfile trim(substr($record,42,5)); # as bill cycle, print outputfile "\n"; } else { if($record =~ /:/){ # my @pos = split(/:/,$record); # &trim_arr(@pos); print second trim($ban); # as ban to second file , print second $delimiter; print second "hello"; print second $delimiter; print second $record; print second "\n"; } } #$col=substr($record,45,1); #@pos = split(/:/,$col); #&trim_arr(@pos); #foreach my $token (@pos) { #if($token eq ':') #{ # print outputfile "$token$delimiter"; #} #} } close(arca); close(outputfile); close(second); second output coming (wrong output) |hello| report arca-05 c o l l e c t i o n a g e n c y f i l e r e p o r t page: 2 |hello| bch date: 07/17/2008 |hello| collected by : n/a |hello| collection agency code : canadian bonded credit ltee 300008827|hello| ar-activity : payment 300008827|hello| activity-amt : 84.60 300008827|hello| activity date : 07/15/2008 300340698|hello| ar-activity : invoice receipt 300340698|hello| activity-amt : 13.01 300340698|hello| activity date : 07/17/2008 300340698|hello| report totals bans : 2

i got it work but not split function not wrking
modify the code :
while ($record = <ARCA>) {
$record =~ s/[\r\n]+/ /g; # Remove CR and/or LF and replace with space

if (substr($record,40,12) eq "Report Date:"){
$ReportDate = substr($record,53,10);
}
if (int(substr($record,7,9)) >= int(300000000)||(substr($record,7,9)) >= int(500000000)){
$Ban = substr($record,7,9);
print OutPutFile trim($ReportDate); # AS Report Date,
print OutPutFile $Delimiter;
print OutPutFile trim(substr($record,1,6)); # AS Code,
print OutPutFile $Delimiter;
print OutPutFile trim($Ban); # AS BAN,
print OutPutFile $Delimiter;
print OutPutFile trim(substr($record,49,12)); # AS BAN Status,
print OutPutFile $Delimiter;
print OutPutFile trim(substr($record,42,5)); # AS Bill Cycle,
print OutPutFile "\n";
}
else{
if(substr($record,45,1) eq ':'){
my @pos = split(/:/,$record);
&trim_arr(@pos);
print Second trim($Ban); # AS BAN to second file ,
print Second $Delimiter;
print Second trim(@pos);
print Second "\n";
}
}
#$col=substr($record,45,1);
#@pos = split(/:/,$col);
#&trim_arr(@pos);
#foreach my $token (@pos) {
#if($token eq ':')
#{
# print OutPutFile "$token$Delimiter";
#}
#}
}
close(ARCA);
close(OutPutFile);
close(Second);

output coming : WRONG
Ban|ACTIVITY DATE|ACTIVITY-AMT|AR-ACTIVITY|
300004967|NAME : 2877457 CANADA INC. ADDRESS-1 : 9600 RUE MEILLEUR, 2 ETAGE
300004967|ATTENTION : ADDRESS-2 :
300004967|AR-BALANCE : 8,400.27 CITY/PROVINCE : MONTREAL,/QC
300004967|HOME-TN : POSTAL CODE : H2N2E3
300004967|WORK-TN : SIN : 000-000-000
300004967|EMPLOYER-NAME : BIRTH DATE :
300004967|ASSIGN DATE : 07/17/2008 CANCEL FEE : 0.00
300004967|CURRENCY_CODE : CAD

want output like :
Ban|ACTIVITY DATE|ACTIVITY-AMT|AR-ACTIVITY
300004967|07/17/2008|8,400.27|CAC
i using split function
my @pos = split(/:/,$record);
&trim_arr(@pos);
which is telling me its 3 elements but now to break them

working guys thx