First, from perlsub 
...if an AUTOLOAD subroutine is defined in the package or
packages used to locate the original subroutine, then that
AUTOLOAD subroutine is called with the arguments that would
have been passed to the original subroutine. The fully qualified
name of the original subroutine magically appears in the
global $AUTOLOAD variable of the same package as the
AUTOLOAD routine

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My question has to do with the "magically appears in the global $AUTOLOAD variable of the same package as the AUTOLOAD routine" section.

If $AUTOLOAD is initialized by perl as a global in the package the routine is in, why must it be fully qualified or explicitly declared with our when used within that package when strict is in use. 

# the following code throws a compile time error
package TestPackage;

use strict;

sub AUTOLOAD {
    print $AUTOLOAD, " is not available\n";
}

# this code is fine
package TestPackage;

use strict;
our $AUTOLOAD;    # 'use vars qw( $AUTOLOAD )' works too

sub AUTOLOAD {
    print $AUTOLOAD, " is not available\n";
}

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This error:
Global symbol "$AUTOLOAD" requires explicit package name
seems to make a liar out of perlsub. I get from the docs that $AUTOLOAD will be set to be a part of the package the routine is in, but it doesn't seem to behave that way.

I'm sure I've misinterpreted, but I just don't see where.



Amel

In reply to Fully qualifying $AUTOLOAD by dsb

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