$ perl -MO=Deparse -e '$$hash{"key1"}{"$var2"} = $value' $hash->{'key1'}{"$var2"} = $value; -e syntax OK $ perl -MO=Deparse -e '$$hash->{"key1"}->{"$var2"} = $value' $$hash->{'key1'}{"$var2"} = $value; -e syntax OK #### $ perl -MO=Deparse -e '$hash->$*->{"key1"}{"$var2"} = $value' $$hash->{'key1'}{"$var2"} = $value; -e syntax OK #### $ perl -MO=Deparse -e '%$hash{"key1"}->%*' %{%$hash{'key1'}}; -e syntax OK #### $ perl -MO=Deparse -e '%{ $hash{"key1"} }' %{$hash{'key1'};}; -e syntax OK $ perl -MO=Deparse -e '$hash{"key1"}->%*' %{$hash{'key1'}}; -e syntax OK