package xmlutil;
use XML::Simple;
#use strict; # I need symbolic dereferencing.

my $xmlFile = "./galaxy.xml";
my $config = XMLin($xmlFile);

sub get_ival {
    $parm_str = $_[0];

    # reference the parameter directly. Prints Jane's number
    print "ref1 = ", $config->{jane}->{tel_no}, "\n";

    # attempt to use symbolic dereference. Yields nothing!
    print "ref2 = ", $$parm_str, "\n";

    # construct the same symbolic reference locally
    # just to make sure. Still yields nothing!
    $parm_str = "\$" . "config->{jane}->{tel_no}, "\n";
    print "ref3 = ", $$parm_str, "\n";
}