It should fill whatever array you pass to it, which in this case is @name. The reason this can be done is because of the way the sub is declared, in particular, the (\@) definition means that the first parameter is an array reference. This way, instead of passing a copy of the @name array, a reference to it is passed, allowing you to manipulate it.

With that in mind, I'm surprised that you get "nothing". @name should be filled with array references, these sub-arrays that contain the various rows. Using your code, since you are not de-referencing them, you should see something like this: 
ARRAY(0x80fe5a8)
ARRAY(0x80fe5d2)
ARRAY(0x80fe6f4)

[download]
The reason is you are printing an array reference as a string, which isn't going to work. A solution is to either use the venerable Data::Dumper or just deference it: 
# Data::Dumper saves the day again
use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper (\@name);

# De-reference it and treat it as an array
foreach my $row (@name)
{
     print join (',', @$row),"\n";
}

[download]
I'm not sure how familiar you are with references, but here's a 5 second intro: 
my @array      = qw[ 1 2 3 ];
my $array_ref  = \@array;      # Backslash makes a reference
my @array_copy = @$array_ref;  # @ de-references array reference

$array[2]       = 4;   # Modifies @array directly
print $array_ref->[2]; # Should be '4' now
$array_ref->[1] = 5;   # Modifies @array by reference
print $array[1];       # Should be '5'
$array_copy[1]  = 6;   # Modifies @array_copy, not @array
print $array[1];       # Still '5'

[download]

In reply to Re^3: Fill Arbitrary Array by tadman
in thread Fill array by Anonymous Monk

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