my @lines = foo( 'bar' );
chomp @lines;
my $a = join '', @lines;
my $b; $b *= getVa( $_ ) for @lines;
undef @lines;

##</code><code>##

sub foo{
     my $bar = shift;
     my( $a, $b );
     ...
     while( my$line = getLine() ) {
         chomp $line;
         $a .= line;
         $b *= getVa( $line )
     }
     return $a, $b;
}

my( $a, $b ) = foo( 'bar' );