Re^4: Please help me understand string eval better

To clarify, I wasn't looking for help with specific code but rather for a theoretical answer on what behavioural differences to expect when using each of the three string eval variations.

Basically what I deduced from your answers so far:
Option 1 and option 2 are exactly the same under any circumstance, they will always produce the same result no matter what $$var and $transf contain.
Is this understanding correct?

With regards to option 3 one difference seems to be that $$var will only be replaced by it's value when the eval is invoked. Is there any other behavioural difference when using option 3 instead of option 1?

P.S: In my application $$var is a string that contains a decimal number (can have leading zeroes and won't necessarily be an integer) which varies at run-time, while $transf contains matematical operations which also vary at run-time and which I want eval to apply to $$var and then return the result.
For example $$var could be "09" (or it could be "56.7") and $transf could be "/3+6".
So I case of $$var="09" and $transf="/3+6" I want eval to return 9 (i.e. the result of: 9/3+6).

I had to switch from using option 1 to option 3 because the occasional leading zeros (which are inevitable) were causing eval to interpret the value of $$var as an octal (which I don't want) but now that I'm using option 3 I'm unsure if I might get other unexpected side effects.
Basically I'm uncomfortable using code that I don't fully understand, which is why I'm looking for a comprehensive/theoretical explanation of the consequence of using option 3 instead of option 1.

Comment on Re^4: Please help me understand string eval better

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Re^5: Please help me understand string eval better (string to number) by shmem (Chancellor) on Jun 13, 2017 at 06:38 UTC
It looks like your question isn't so much about eval than about magical string-to-number conversion. With regards to option 3 one difference seems to be that $$var will only be replaced by it's value when the eval is invoked. Is there any other behavioural difference when using option 3 instead of option 1? No, there is no difference. It's all a matter of what eval gets to evaluate. `$var = '09'; $trans = '/3+5'; eval "$var$trans"; # eval gets '09/3+5' # Illegal octal digit '9' eval $var.$trans; # eval gets '09/3+5' # Illegal octal digit '9' eval '$var'.$trans; # eval gets '$var/3+5' # result: 8` [download] What happens in the last case? Well, eval evaluates $var in a numerical operation (division), in which case the number slot of the variable is used. Its string value still is `09`, but its numerical value is `9`. use Devel::Peek; $var = '09'; Dump $var; $var + 0; Dump $var; $var / 3; Dump $var; __END__ SV = PV(0x2e352a0) at 0x2e24fc0 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (POK,IsCOW,pPOK) PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0 CUR = 2 LEN = 10 COW_REFCNT = 0 SV = PVIV(0x254b610) at 0x2e24fc0 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (IOK,POK,IsCOW,pIOK,pPOK) IV = 9 PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0 CUR = 2 LEN = 10 COW_REFCNT = 0 SV = PVNV(0x2ddfc90) at 0x2e24fc0 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (IOK,NOK,POK,IsCOW,pIOK,pNOK,pPOK) IV = 9 NV = 9 PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0 CUR = 2 LEN = 10 COW_REFCNT = 0 [download] As you can see, by adding `0` to `$var`, the integer slot (IV) of the variable is populated with `9`. Dividing `$var` fills the number slot (NV), so the variable is fit for division. The string value (PV) is still `09`. perl -le'print map{pack c,($-++?1:13)+ord}split//,ESEL'	[reply] [d/l] [select]

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Re^5: Please help me understand string eval better (string to number)
by shmem (Chancellor) on Jun 13, 2017 at 06:38 UTC

It looks like your question isn't so much about eval than about magical string-to-number conversion.

With regards to option 3 one difference seems to be that $$var will only be replaced by it's value when the eval is invoked. Is there any other behavioural difference when using option 3 instead of option 1?

No, there is no difference. It's all a matter of what eval gets to evaluate.

$var = '09';
$trans = '/3+5';

eval "$var$trans";  # eval gets '09/3+5'
                    # Illegal octal digit '9'

eval $var.$trans;   # eval gets '09/3+5'
                    # Illegal octal digit '9'

eval '$var'.$trans; # eval gets '$var/3+5'
                    # result: 8
[download]

What happens in the last case? Well, eval evaluates $var in a numerical operation (division), in which case the number slot of the variable is used. Its string value still is 09, but its numerical value is 9.

use Devel::Peek;
$var = '09';
Dump $var;
$var + 0;
Dump $var;
$var / 3;
Dump $var;
__END__
SV = PV(0x2e352a0) at 0x2e24fc0
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (POK,IsCOW,pPOK)
  PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0
  CUR = 2
  LEN = 10
  COW_REFCNT = 0
SV = PVIV(0x254b610) at 0x2e24fc0
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (IOK,POK,IsCOW,pIOK,pPOK)
  IV = 9
  PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0
  CUR = 2
  LEN = 10
  COW_REFCNT = 0
SV = PVNV(0x2ddfc90) at 0x2e24fc0
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (IOK,NOK,POK,IsCOW,pIOK,pNOK,pPOK)
  IV = 9
  NV = 9
  PV = 0x2e503f0 "09"\0
  CUR = 2
  LEN = 10
  COW_REFCNT = 0
[download]

As you can see, by adding 0 to $var, the integer slot (IV) of the variable is populated with 9. Dividing $var fills the number slot (NV), so the variable is fit for division. The string value (PV) is still 09.

perl -le'print map{pack c,($-++?1:13)+ord}split//,ESEL'

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]