If a hash key is a reference...

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

If the value of an element in a hash is a reference, then<KBD> ref($hash{"keyname"})</KBD>
returns something like<KBD> SCALAR</KBD>.

The result is much different if the key itself contains a reference.

  print ref( $key ) foreach $key (keys %hash);

<KBD>ref( $key ) </KBD>returns nothing if "$key" is in fact a reference. So I have been
resorting to testing, say:

  index($key, "SCALAR")

... which seems to border on downright cheesy. Is there some less cheesy way
to make "$key" give up its little secret?

Comment on If a hash key is a reference...

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Re: If a hash key is a reference... by btrott (Parson) on Jun 18, 2000 at 01:24 UTC
A hash key is never a reference, even if it looks like one. Hash keys are automatically stringified, which means that they're changed into strings, and a stringified reference can no longer be treated as a reference.	[reply]
Re: If a hash key is a reference... by cbraga (Pilgrim) on Jun 18, 2000 at 05:13 UTC
You can use the `Tie::RefHash` module. The following should work: `use Tie::RefHash; tie %hash, "Tie::RefHash"; $hash{$somereference} = ...`	[reply]