XML::Dumper is indeed nifty, though to use xml_compare properly, you should not use the OO form

 $xdumper->xml_compare($this,$that);

but just plain ol'

 xml_compare($this, $that);

the functional way.

no qualifiers necessary. some of xml::dumper's functions are available in both functional and oo forms, but sadly not xml_compare, and i presume xml_identity. perhaps the perldoc should be augmented a teensy bit on this? whatever, this doesn't cast any shadow on the module itself, which gets a big thumbs up from me anyway.

hmmm, do i get experience points for answering my own question, or are they deducted?