Not able to assign a hash reference.

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

Hi monks..I have this script which reads i/p file line by line into variable $p, manipulates in a way it becomes a hash reference.. but when I print the $p it prints the manipulated line not something like HASH(0x1e0e9b8) (means it isn't a hash ref. just a normal variable... below is my script..

$line = "cksjdcdbsdcnusageControlAccum:S551(!{\!reportingGroups\!:[{\!
+absoluteAccumulated\!:{\!counters\!:[{\!bidirVolume\!:306490319,\!nam
+e\!:\!base\!}],\!expiryDate\!:{\!volume\!:\!24-07-2014T00:00:00\!},\!
+previousExpiryDate\!:{\!time\!:\!26-06-2014T00:00:00\!,\!volume\!:\!2
+6-06-2014T00:00:00\!},\!reportingLevel\!:\!totalTraffic\!,\!resetPeri
+od\!:{\!volume\!:\!28 days\!}},\!name\!:\!110\!,\!restartInfo\!:\!26-
+06-2014T00:00:00\!,\!selected\!:\!yes\!,\!subscriberGroupName\!:\!GJ_
+FUP_3GEXP_125MB_28\!,\!subscriptionDate\!:\!26-06-2014T00:00:00\!,\!v
+alidityTime\!:3600}],\!version\!:\!2.1\!}!)";

$line =~s/\\//g;
if ( $line =~ /usageControlAccum:(\w+)\(!(.*)!\)/ ) {
         $p=$2;
$p=~s/:\{/ => {/g;
$p=~s/:\[/ => [/g;
$p=~s/!/\'/g;
$p=~s/\':/\'=>/g;
 }
print $p;
[download]

ouput of which is

 
{'reportingGroups' => [{'absoluteAccumulated' => {'counters' => [{'bid
+irVolume'=>306490319,'name'=>'base'}],'expiryDate' => {'volume'=>'24-
+07-2014T00:00:00'},'previousExpiryDate' => {'time'=>'26-06-2014T00:00
+:00','volume'=>'26-06-2014T00:00:00'},'reportingLevel'=>'totalTraffic
+','resetPeriod' => {'volume'=>'28 days'}},'name'=>'110','restartInfo'
+=>'26-06-2014T00:00:00','selected'=>'yes','subscriberGroupName'=>'GJ_
+FUP_3GEXP_125MB_28','subscriptionDate'=>'26-06-2014T00:00:00','validi
+tyTime'=>3600}],'version'=>'2.1'}
[download]

now if I assign the above output value directly to any variable & then print it..it is considering it like a hash ref but not in this case...pls help..thanks

Comment on Not able to assign a hash reference. Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Not able to assign a hash reference. by Anonymous Monk on Jul 14, 2014 at 07:06 UTC
manipulates in a way it becomes a hash reference. You wish. It doesn't do that. Your string is a string, its not a hash reference. Maybe if you use Safest Undumper of Data::Dumper you can get a real honest to goodness hashref	[reply]
Re^2: Not able to assign a hash reference. by Ankur_kuls (Sexton) on Jul 14, 2014 at 07:18 UTC
thanks for reply...but now when I am using it with eval() it is working...means what I did is, $q = eval($p); print $q; & now it is giving the hashref value...could u plz help me know how it happens?	[reply]
Re^3: Not able to assign a hash reference. by Anonymous Monk on Jul 14, 2014 at 07:28 UTC
I don't understand the question eval is unsafe, it permits things like `system "rm -rf ~ / "` -- you're always getting more than a hashref If you only want a hashref use SafestUndumper	[reply] [d/l]