see ref, no, maybe? for a good discussion on ref.

i use the following, pinched and modified from a node in that thread.

if(  ! ref($r)  ) 
{
  ## no ref here
} 
elsif(  ! eval { $r->can('isa') }  ) 
{
  ## i'm an unblessed ref
} 
else 
{
  ## i'm a blessed ref
}
[download]

~Particle *accelerates*