package Test::test; sub new { return bless \rand, shift; } sub exists{ shift; shift(); } sub createNode{ return print 'Node created'.$/; } package main; my $xp = Test::test->new(); createPath( ); createPath( 'test'); sub createPath { my $path = shift; if ($xp->exists($path)) { print "Path already exists, overwrite element (N/Y): "; my $response = ; chomp( $response ); unless (lc($response) eq 'y') { print "Path creation call will be ignored\n"; return 0; } } print "Creating node..."; $xp->createNode($path) or die "Could not create node: $!"; } __END__ c:\test>junk Creating node...Node created Path already exists, overwrite element (N/Y): y Creating node...Node created c:\test>