my $fh = open_file("<", $file, $verbose);
    my $class;
    eval do { local $/; <$fh> };
    die $@ if $@;

    close $fh;
    return $class;

##</code><code>##

$class = {  big => "hashref" };

##</code><code>##

$class = {
    alpha      => 'beta',
    gamma   => 'delta',
    epsilon   => 'zeta',
};

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
my $file = q{alpha.txt};
my $class;
open my $fh, "<", $file or die "Unable to open: $!";
eval do { local $/; <$fh> };
die $@ if $@;
close $fh or die "Unable to close: $!";
print Dumper $class;

##</code><code>##

$VAR1 = {
          'gamma' => 'delta',
          'epsilon' => 'zeta',
          'alpha' => 'beta'
        };

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
our $class;
my $file = q{alpha.txt};
require $file;
print Dumper $class;