I think the answer to your question lies in the fact that return(%ALLDATA) returns a list of values (the keys and values of %ALLDATA while  return(\%ALLDATA)returns one value: a scalar that is a reference to the hash.
Hope that helps,
-ase

In reply to Re: passing a multidimentional hash-sub-hash (to a sub and back again) by ase
in thread passing a multidimentional hash-sub-hash (to a sub and back again) by Buckaroo Buddha

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