The operator is intended to return a single value. Attempting to get side effects is a bad idea even if you succeed. Here is how to get the result you desire. 
use strict;
use warnings;
my $logical = 1;
my ($a,$b);
$a = $logical ?  2  : 'a';
$b = $logical ? 'b' : 'x';
print "a is $a\n";
print "b is $b\n";

$logical = 0;
print "\$logical is now false\n";
$a = $logical ?  2  : 'a';
$b = $logical ? 'b' : 'x';
print "a is $a\n";
print "b is $b\n";

OUTPUT:
a is 2
b is b
$logical is now false
a is a
b is x

[download]
Bill

In reply to Re: ternary conditional help by BillKSmith
in thread ternary conditional help by opaltoot

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