You could make a subroutine, but you can use //= assignment for the equivalent of the code example you gave: 
$cf{$k1}{$k2}{$k3}{"hlst"} //= "";

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But that assumes the problem you're trying to solve is duplicating that variable twice.

In reply to Re: define a hash-value, using hash-ref and a list of keys by Loops
in thread define a hash-value, using hash-ref and a list of keys by janssene

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