my $packed = pack 'C/a*', 'the quick brown fox';
print "'$packed'";

##</code><code>##

my $data = unpack 'C/a*', $packed;
print "'$data'";

##</code><code>##

my @data = unpack 'C/a*', $packed;
print scalar @data, ':', join '|', @data;

##</code><code>##

my ($len, $val) = unpack 'C/a*', $packed;
print "$len:$val;";

##</code><code>##

Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at C:\test\test.pl line 16.
the quick brown fox:;

##</code><code>##

my $len = unpack 'C/a*', $packed;
my ($data) = unpack 'C/a*', $packed;