Why not make %config set inside _fill_config?

If the only way to set %config is by calling _fill_config, why don't you set %config directly in there?

Are you using AutoLoader/SelfLoader/load?

If you are, and _change_config/_fill_config are in the area that's not always loaded, they will not see the "same" package lexical (it will be a package global to them).

Why the flattening?

You realize of course that if you're returning a hash, you're essentially flattening it to a list and return that. From an effieciency point of view, it's much better to return a reference to a hash (and probably have the package lexical $config be a reference as well).

Are you sure _parse_file works ok?

Double check in _fill_config that actually the thing you expect, is being returned.

I think there are other things going on in your example that I find strange. But for now I'll attribute those to the making of the (pseudo) takeout.

Hope this helps

Liz

If your instances are carrying around a reference to %config, excuting change_config overwrites %config. Objects may still be carrrying around a reference to the old %config.

The code you posted doesn't seem to have this problem, though.

All code given here is UNTESTED unless otherwise stated.

Is the sample code truly an extract from the non-working code? It appears to me that it should work fine, assuming _parse_file does the right thing.

If you add _parse_file to your sample, try testing that to see if it works or not. If it works, add other bits to it incrementally until it breaks. Check the last thing you added...

Good luck with sorting it out.

yours,
Michael

use strict;
use Foo;

my $object = Foo->new('admin');

$object->show_config();
sleep(15);
$object->change_config();
$object->show_config();
[download]

package Foo;

use strict;
my $config = _parse_file();

sub new
{
   my $proto = shift();
   my $status = shift() || 'normal';
   my $package = ref($proto) || $proto;
   
   my $self = { status => $status };
   bless($self, $package);
   
   return $self;
}

sub change_config
{
   my $self = shift();
   return unless $self->{status} ne 'admin';
   $config = _parse_file();
}

sub show_config
{
    foreach (keys(%{$config}))
    {
        print "KEY: $_\tVALUE: $$config{$_}\n";
    }
}

sub _parse_file
{
    my $filename = 'test.cfg';
    my %temp;
    open(CONFIG, "<$filename") or die "can not open!\n";
    while (<CONFIG>)
    {
        chomp($_);
        my ($key, $value) = $_ =~ m/^(\w+)=(.*)$/;
        $value ||= '';
        $temp{$key} = $value if ($key);
    }
    close(CONFIG);
    return \%temp;
}
1;
[download]

option1=value1
option2=value2
option3=value3

KEY: option1    VALUE: value1
KEY: option2    VALUE: value2
KEY: option3    VALUE: value3
KEY: option1    VALUE: value1
KEY: option2    VALUE: value2
KEY: option3    VALUE: value3

In test.pl:

my $object = Foo->new('admin');

In Foo.pm:

sub change_config
{
  my $self = shift();
  return unless $self->{status} ne 'admin';
  ...
}
[download]

change_config isn't doing anything if the status is equal to 'admin'. Try changing the status you're giving the object to something else.

Also, you might want to look into using one of the Config::* modules (such as Config::INIFiles) for parsing your config file.

bbfu
Black flowers blossom
Fearless on my breath