using strict refs

c has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I knew this one would be a problem, but I have actually seen it used with use strict no strict refs before. i'd rather not cop out though, so if someone could explain the right way to do it, i'd appreciate it.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
my $i = "test";
my $test = "success";
print "$$i\n";
[download]

humbly -c

Comment on using strict refs Download Code

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Re: using strict refs by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Aug 28, 2001 at 17:58 UTC
The question is what are you trying to do? It looks like your trying to create a soft reference. That's exactly what strict 'refs' tries to stop. I would just create a hash that has 'test' as a key and 'success' as a value. Easy enough, huh? ------ /me wants to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier! Vote paco for President!	[reply]
Re: using strict refs by Graham (Deacon) on Aug 28, 2001 at 18:01 UTC
`#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $i = "test"; my $test = "success"; { no strict 'refs'; print "$$i\n"; }` [download] should do what you're after UPDATE: Beaten to it by bwana147. Must type faster... UPDATE: and correctly as Hofmator rightly points out,symbolic references will not work for lexical variables.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: using strict refs by bwana147 (Pilgrim) on Aug 28, 2001 at 17:54 UTC
Locally disable the strict (UPDATE: NO, DON'T! Praises go to Hofmator for correcting this goof): `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $i = "test"; my $test = "success"; { no strict 'refs'; print "$$i\n"; }` [download] Or use `eval`: `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $i = "test"; my $test = "success"; print eval qq{"\$$i\\n"};` [download] --bwana147	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Re: using strict refs by Hofmator (Curate) on Aug 28, 2001 at 18:02 UTC
The eval version works, the other version doesn't work because symbolic references only work for package variables - not for lexical variables declared with my. So: `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $i = "test"; # this is now a package variable and requrires an explicit # package name because of use strict $main::test = "success"; { no strict 'refs'; print "$$i\n"; }` [download] -- Hofmator	[reply] [d/l]