(whoops! I think I started a new thread accidentally by changing the subject line...)

Hi Andy!

I found out now (using Dumper-mod) that my reference to the nested hash is undefined (but only when I use use strict;)
When I don't use strict the reference ($results) holds all the data I want and is dumped correctly. Here's the way I get the nested hash from a file (the only possibility I have):

my $filename = $ARGV[0];
open (_filehandle_, "<$filename") or die "Meeeeep! $filename does not 
+exist!\n";
my @file = <_filehandle_>;
close (_filehandle_);
my $line = join "", @file;
my $results = eval ($line);
print '$results: '.Dumper($results);
my $colpattern = $results->{"col_pattern"};
[download]

That's pretty straight and ineffective code, but I better first try how things work and squeeze it up later then. ;-)
As output from ::Dumper I get: $results: $VAR1 = undef;
The fact that $results is undef tells me sth. goes wrong with eval().
Can it be that the use strict-statement affects or somehow impairs the evaluation of the file's contents (which is in $line now)?

Greetz, Micha