Thanks for all the replies. The examples all work and I even understand them (after a bit of reading). However, I'm seeing some weirdness in my actual application. The c_speed variable is being used in a Tk widget as follows:

my $cs_e1   = $seg1_f->Entry(-textvariable => \$c_speed[0], -width => 
+4,
                                                -validate => 'all',
                                                -vcmd  => \&validate_s
+peed,
                                                -font => $med_font)->g
+rid(
                                                -row => 0, -column => 
+1,
                                                -sticky => "w");

sub validate_speed{
  my $val = shift;
  $val ||= 0;
  #get alphas and punctuation out
  if( $val !~ /^\d+$/ ){ return 0 }
  if (($val >= 0) and ($val <= 10)) {return 1}
    else{ return 0 }
}
[download]

When I use split I can print c_speed to the terminal and the values are there, the same as when I use my sscanf lines

  $rstring  = <$lfh>;
  ($c_speed[0], $c_speed[1], $c_speed[2], $c_speed[3]) = sscanf("%d %d
+ %d %d", $rstring);
[download]

BUT, the Tk Entry widget only sees the new values when using sscanf. When I use split the variable still retains it's old value. I'm assuming this is some widget weirdness - can anyone explain please?