Also ... the input file is:

create\tn\tbob\tjim\t1s\tfoo 123 bar\t314.123.3456

use 5.6.0;
use warnings;
use strict;
use utf8;

my %user;

while (<>){
  /^
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # Action to be performed
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}     # Need mailbox created?
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # Last Name
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # First Name
    ([\p{L}&&\p{N}]*)\p{Cc}    # Rank
    ([\p{L}&&\p{N}\p{P}&&\p{Zs}]*)\p{Cc}    # Unit
    (\(?31\p{N}\)?[-. ]?\p{N}{3}[-. ]?\p{N}{4})   #DSN Number
  $/x;

  %user = (
          action => lc($1),
          mail => lc($2),
          lname => ucfirst(lc($3)),
          fname => ucfirst(lc($4)),
          rank => uc($5),
          unit => $6,
          phone => $7,
          user => ucfirst(lc($3)).uc(substr($4,0,1))
          );
}

foreach my $key (keys %user) {
  print "$key $user{$key}\n";
}

__END__
[download]

This code outputs:

fname Jim
unit foo 123 bar
mail n
user 00eJ
phone 314.123.3456
lname Bob
rank 1ST
action create

Noticed the strangeness with user=> ... it doesn't match lname=> ... instead it is 00e

Now I have been discussing this on a mailing list to no avail and it was suggested I try using the following snippet in the above code:

-user => ucfirst(lc($3)).uc(substr($4,0,1))
+user => "@{[ ucfirst (lc $3) . uc (substr $4, 0, 1) ]}"
[download]

This had the exact same output or:

fname Jim
unit foo 123 bar
mail n
user 00eJ
phone 314.123.3456
lname Bob
rank 1ST
action create

It was then suggested that I try the following code:

use 5.6.0;
use warnings;
use strict;
use utf8;

my %user;

while (<>){
  /^
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # Action to be performed
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}     # Need mailbox created?
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # Last Name
    (\p{L}*)\p{Cc}    # First Name
    ([\p{L}&&\p{N}]*)\p{Cc}    # Rank
    ([\p{L}&&\p{N}\p{P}&&\p{Zs}]*)\p{Cc}    # Unit
    (\(?31\p{N}\)?[-. ]?\p{N}{3}[-. ]?\p{N}{4})   #DSN Number
  $/x;
  print "1=$1 2=$2 3=$3 4=$4 5=$5 6=$6 7=$7\n";
  
  my $user = $3;
  print "user=$user\n";
  $user = lc $3;
  print "user=$user\n";
  $user = ucfirst $user;
  print "user=$user\n";
  my $tmp .= uc (substr $4, 0, 1);
  print "tmp=$tmp\n";
  $user = "$user$tmp";
  print "user=$user\n";

  
  %user = (
          action => lc $1,
          mail => lc $2,
          lname => ucfirst(lc $3),
          fname => ucfirst(lc $4),
          rank => uc $5,
          unit => $6,
          phone => $7,
          user => @{[ucfirst(lc $3).uc(substr $4,0,1)]}
          );
}

foreach my $key (keys %user) {
  print "$key $user{$key}\n";
}

__END__
[download]

Output:

1=create 2=n 3=bob 4=jim 5=1st 6=foo 123 bar 7=314.123.3456
user=bob
user=00e
user=00e
tmp=J
user=00eJ
fname Jim
unit foo 123 bar
mail n
user BobJ
phone 314.123.3456
lname Bob
rank 1ST
action create

Now this honestly throws me even more. The function is now returning the proper value but the intermediate values checks are completly wrong (like before).

While yes I could either dynamically create %user OR add $user{$user}= later on after I statically assign the initial values ... I am curious why such a simple thing as I am trying is creating such an odd output.

Any ideas or help on this?

Thanks,

Eöl