$ perl -MO=Deparse,-p $record_types{'HELIX'} ? my %helix = get_helix($record_types{'HELIX'}) : (); __END__ ($record_types{'HELIX'} ? (my(%helix) = get_helix($record_types{'HELIX'})) : ()); #### $record_types{'HELIX'} and my %helix = get_helix($record_types{'HELIX'} );