G'day perlPsycho,

I'm not sure why you're creating both a Config::IniFiles object and a tied hash. I was able to get the output you wanted with each one, independent of the other.

In pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl:

• $cfg and %ini are created in separate anonymous blocks and use different methods to get at the "abc def ..." string (i.e. the value of j= [$j_str]); however, when that string has been retrieved, all remaining code is shared (from process_j_str($j_str)).
• &process_j_str shows how you might populate the array, i.e. transform "abc def ..." into ('abc', 'def', ...).
• &_print_with_seps uses a localised $", aka $LIST_SEPARATOR, to output the array with the chosen separator.

Source of pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl:

#!/usr/bin/env perl -l

use strict;
use warnings;

use constant {
    IN_SEP => ( defined $ARGV[0] ? $ARGV[0] : ' ' ),
    OUT_SEP => ( defined $ARGV[1] ? $ARGV[1] : ' ' ),
    SECTION => ( length $ARGV[2] ? $ARGV[2] : 'hello'),
    PARM => ( length $ARGV[3] ? $ARGV[3] : 'j'),
    INI => ( length $ARGV[4] ? $ARGV[4] : 'pm_1164267_config_inifiles.
+ini' ),
};

use Config::IniFiles;

{
    my $cfg = Config::IniFiles::->new( -file => INI );

    my $j_str = $cfg->val( SECTION, PARM );

    process_j_str($j_str);
}

{
    tie my %ini, 'Config::IniFiles', ( -file => INI );

    my $j_str = $ini{+SECTION}{+PARM};

    untie %ini;

    process_j_str($j_str);
}

sub process_j_str {
    my ($j_str) = @_;

    my @j_vals;

    _populate_j_vals_array($j_str, \@j_vals);
    _print_with_seps(\@j_vals);
}

sub _populate_j_vals_array {
    my ($j_str, $j_vals) = @_;

    my $i = 0;

    for (0 .. length($j_str) - 1) {
        my $char = substr $j_str, $_, 1;

        if ($char eq IN_SEP) {
            ++$i if length $j_vals->[$i];
        }
        else {
            $j_vals->[$i] .= $char;
        }
    }
}

sub _print_with_seps {
    my ($j_vals) = @_;

    {
        local $" = OUT_SEP;

        print "j=@$j_vals";
    }
}
[download]

pm_1164267_config_inifiles.ini starts with the same data you provided. I've added half a dozen lines to test what you described in "Re^2: Using Config::IniFiles Module Obtain Comma Separated Values into An Array".

$ cat pm_1164267_config_inifiles.ini
#
#
#
#
#
#
[hello]
#
#
#
#
i=abc
i=def
i=ghi
i=jkl
i=mno

j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz

[spaces]
j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz
[commas]
j=abc,def,ghi,jkl,mno,pqrs,tuv,wxyz
[dots]
j=abc.def.ghi.jkl.mno.pqrs.tuv.wxyz
[download]

Here's some sample runs:

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl
j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz
j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz
[download]

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl ' '
j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz
j=abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz
[download]

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl ' ' ,
j=abc,def,ghi,jkl,mno,pqrs,tuv,wxyz
j=abc,def,ghi,jkl,mno,pqrs,tuv,wxyz
[download]

Testing the additional INI lines:

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl ' ' : spaces
j=abc:def:ghi:jkl:mno:pqrs:tuv:wxyz
j=abc:def:ghi:jkl:mno:pqrs:tuv:wxyz
[download]

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl , % commas
j=abc%def%ghi%jkl%mno%pqrs%tuv%wxyz
j=abc%def%ghi%jkl%mno%pqrs%tuv%wxyz
[download]

$ pm_1164267_config_inifiles.pl . , dots
j=abc,def,ghi,jkl,mno,pqrs,tuv,wxyz
j=abc,def,ghi,jkl,mno,pqrs,tuv,wxyz
[download]