You extend this a bit, and you have what is called an "API". You extend it further, and you get a mini language.

IMO, the original post isn't quite screaming (maybe loudly speaking) for a mini language, but if robustness is an important issue, a mini language may be in order. Using eval is one thing, and may be great if all interactions to that column in the db is through a perl programmer. Using a mini language allows you to go the extra step and allow anyone to update it, assuming you have enough flexibility in your library of subroutines.

In reply to Re^2: Creating subroutines on the fly by Tanktalus
in thread Creating subroutines on the fly by pander

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