Sounds to me like you are describing the wrong symptom. Perhaps the first time you tested your problem, $msg was never defined. Then you tried your work around and this time $msg was set. Otherwise $_ would also be undefined. Think about it, given this expression: 
$_ = $msg;

[download]
how can $_ not be undefined (or contain the empty string) if $msg is undefined (or contains the empty string)? Change it to the latter snippet, i'll bet that you get the same results as the former (given that you really are setting $msg before hand).

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

In reply to (jeffa) Re: Sending variables to a log file by jeffa
in thread Sending variables to a log file by sulfericacid

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