You meant this, right? (haven't got 5.6 running on anything here yet) require 5.6; $a = eval "v$_"; # assuming string to test is in $_ $b = v255.255.255.255; print( ( $a | $b ) eq $a ? "Yes\n" : "No\n" ); ==== Want to unsubscribe from Fun With Perl? Well, if you insist... ==== Send email to <fwp-request@technofile.org> with message _body_ ==== unsubscribe