Hello!

I'm curious if there is a way to pass a hash as parameters in a perl CGI script.

For example, I tried this, which doesn't seem to work: 

  $test_hash{$switch_name}{'port_desc'} = 'Whatever';
  $test_hash{$switch_name}{'speed'} = 'auto';
  $test_hash{$switch_name}{'duplex'} = 'auto';
  $test_hash{$switch_name}{'reserve_status'} = 'active';
  $test_hash{$switch_name}{'port_vlan'} = '999';
  $test_hash_ref = \%test_hash;
    
  print qq~<input type=hidden name="test_ref" value="$test_hash_ref">\
+n~;

[download]
This just passes a string that says "HASH(0x3jshdf29)" or somesuch.

Beyond breaking the hash down into its component key=>value pairs and passing each individually, then reassembling them into a hash again, is there a more elegant way to pass a data structure to a CGI form? I'd like to pass a REALLY big data structure, and the idea of doing it as 400 key=>value pairs really doesn't appeal.

Thanks for any info.

CT

Charles Thomas
Madison, WI

In reply to Pass a hash as parameter to a CGI? by C_T

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.