Hi,

I'd like to create an associative array containing references to regular arrays (lists). The regular arrays are being created in a loop. Here is a basic example of what I'm doing:

#!/usr/bin/perl

# Create some arrays of random numbers...
foreach $NAME ('Fred', 'Barney', 'Wilma', 'Peggy')
{
        local (@ARRAY) = ();

        for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++)
        {
                push (@ARRAY, int(rand(30)));
        }

        # And now store the reference in an associative array...
        $ALINK{$NAME} = \@ARRAY;
}

# Here's how I might print it out...
foreach $KEY (keys (%ALINK))
{
        @ARRAY = @{ $ALINK{$KEY} };
        foreach $ELEMENT (@ARRAY)
        {
                print $KEY . " " . $ELEMENT . "\n";
        }
}

My question is: Am I risking it using the 'local' statement because it will be picked up later by garbage collection? If I am, then what's the best way to create new lists and keep a reference to them?

Thanks your holynesses!
Richard

In reply to Referncing a local array outside by richard_hawkes

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