Re^5: Counting Problem

You could use slot 0 of your array to hold the count, and let the names occupy slots 1..n. That would give you a structure like:

my %AG = (
    'OfficeOfDir' => [
        5,   # slot 0 holds count
        { GRADE=>'A', POSITION=>'Quarterback', NAME=>'Unitas, J.' },
        { GRADE=>'B', POSITION=>'Nickleback',  NAME=>'Elephino' },
    ],
    'OfficeOfTech' => [
        2,
        { GRADE=>'B2', POSITION=>'Secretary', NAME=>'BillTheGalacticHe
+ro' },
        { GRADE=>'C5', POSITION=>'Diplomat',  NAME=>'StainlessSteelRat
+'   },
    ],
);
[download]

There are many alternatives, though. You need to come up with something that feels natural to you, and you find easy to work with in your code.

Also, I wasn't kidding when I mentioned:

Indentation will help you gain speed and accuracy, and
Use a reference with Dumper so you can get a simpler view of your data.

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

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Re^6: Counting Problem by GuiPerl (Acolyte) on Sep 12, 2014 at 14:18 UTC
Robitcus, Many thanks for all your guidance. One last question. When you are composing your data structure, I noticed that you are pushing 3 values (i.e.push @{ $grades{$_->{GRADE}}{$_->{POSITION}} }, $_->{NAME} for @$RECORD). How would I go about adding additional values into the @$grades hash such as $_{SECTION},$_{AGE} etc so that they are outputted as follows: GRADE, POSITION, NAME, SECTION, AGE etc.? I can't figure out how to add additional hash keys. Thanks.	[reply]
Re^7: Counting Problem by roboticus (Chancellor) on Sep 12, 2014 at 17:11 UTC
GuiPerl: If you use Dumper to print out the data structure, you can look at the structure to see what to do. For example: $VAR1 = ( # top level look at next item to see if array + or hash FOO=>{ # Key: top level is hash. { means next is ha +sh too BAR=>{ # another hash BAZ=>[ # square bracket starts an array { BIM=>1 }, # slot 0 contains a hash { BIM=>5 }, # slot 1 also contains a hash 'GEORGE', # slot 2 holds a string [3,6,9] # slot 3 holds an array }, }, }, FOE=>[ # FOE is key for an array ['a','b','c'], # slot 0 holds another array {FUM=>'FIE'}, # slot 1 holds a hash ], ); say $H{FOO}{BAR}{BAZ}[0]{BIM}; # should show 1 say $H{FOO}{BAR}{BAZ}[2]; # should show GEORGE say $H{FOO}{BAR}{BAZ}[3][1]; # should show 6 say $H{FOE}[0][2]; # should show c say $H{FOE}[1]{FUM}; # should show FIE [download] So look at your Dumper output, and look at the characters used to separate the levels. You'll want to use the same characters to get to the data you want. Does that help clear things up? ...roboticus When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.	[reply] [d/l]