"a require happens at run time, so it occurs too late to serve as a declaration in the file invoking the require."
If you want the variables in inc.conf to be available globally in your program you will need to "use inc.conf" instead of "require inc.conf". The reason for this is that "use" is done at compile time.
please disregard this post. I misunderstood the question, so my reply is incorrect. And please do not flog to too badly :)