use Getopt::Std;
...
&parse_commandline;
...
sub parse_commandline {
    my $funcName  = (caller(0))[3];
    print "\nWorking in function: $funcName\n" if $DEBUG;
    
# c: require different config file (requires param)
# q: quiet or cron mode
# t: test mode (don't do anything.  Just run through the motions)
# v: verbose mode (same as debug)
# V: version information.
# d: debug mode (extra output)
# h: help

    getopts('c:qtrvVdh',\%ARGS);  ## <- here is the hash ref!

# From there I just check the hash{switch}
# to see if what I want is there and set 
# script environment accordingly.

    $DEBUG       = 1 if ( exists  $ARGS{'v'} );
    $DEBUG       = 1 if ( exists  $ARGS{'d'} );
    $NO_RULE_OUTPUT
                 = 1 if ( exists  $ARGS{'r'} );

    &version   if ( exists  $ARGS{V} );
    &funcUsage if ( exists  $ARGS{h} );

    if ( defined $ARGS{'c'} ) {

	if ( ! &check_for_valid_conf($ARGS{'c'}) ) {
	    print "\n$config_file: Invalid config file specified on ".
	          "command line\n";
	    &funcUsage
	} else {
	    $config_file = $ARGS{'c'};
	}
    }

    $CRON_MODE   = 1 if ( exists  $ARGS{'q'} );
    $TEST_MODE   = 1 if ( exists  $ARGS{'t'} and !$CRON_MODE );
}