my @list = (1, 2, 3); # list context, @list -> (1, 2, 3) my $num = @list; # scalar context, $num -> 3 my @second_list = @list; # list context, @second_list -> (1, 2, 3) #### while ($row = ) { () = unpack("a9 a40 a15 a15 a15 a2 a9 a9 a9",$row); }