# Traverse a tree using localize state $tree = [ one => two => [ three_one => three_two => [ three_three_one => ], three_four => ], four => [ [ five_one_one => ], ], ]; @path = ('q'); rmap_to { if(ref $_) { local(@path) = (@path, 1); # ARRAY adds a new level to the path $_[0]->recurse(); # does stuff within local(@path)'s scope } else { print join('.', @path), " = $_ \n"; # show the scalar's path } $path[-1]++; # bump last element (even when it was an aref) } ARRAY|VALUE, $tree; # OUTPUT # q.1 = one # q.2 = two # q.3.1 = three_one # q.3.2 = three_two # q.3.3.1 = three_three_one # q.3.4 = three_four # q.4 = four # q.5.1.1 = five_one_one