There is no "PHASH". There is a $PAHASH, which is a scalar containing a reference to an anonymous hash and there is a %PAHASH, which is a hash (tied to a dbm file), but is unrelated to $PAHASH.

If you do $PAHASH{$something} you're refering to %PAHASH. If you do $$PAHASH{$something}, you're referering to the hash referenced by $PAHASH. This can be confusing in the beginning, I know.

Take a look at perlreftut. But most of all, get in the habit of using strict. It'll save you from a lot of bugs.

"What should it profit a man, if he should win a flame war, yet lose his cool?"

In reply to Re^3: Problem with DBM hash of anonymous arrays by Joost
in thread Problem with DBM hash of anonymous arrays by travisbickle34

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