I have a hash that is passed by reference to a function.

In that function, the hash gets tied and modified. After the function returns, the original hash now has new values. It goes a little something like this: 

my %hash;
my $blah = function(\%hash);
warn Dumper \%hash; # prints a bunch of values

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This is what the function looks like... (note that I simplified the function and everything else for demo purposes) 
sub function {
my ($hash) = @_;

 tie %$hash, 'Apache::Session::File', undef,
            {
              Directory => $r->dir_config('blah'),
              LockDirectory => $r->dir_config('blah'),
            };
$hash->{auth}->{user} = "jacques"

}

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Okay, everything is working as it is suppose to be. But when I put that tie() into a separate module that returns the tied hash, then the original hash is not modified. This is a problem. Here's what the function looks like when using that module. 
sub function {
my ($hash) = @_;

$hash = MyModule::tie_session();

$hash->{auth}->{user} = "jacques";
}

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When putting the tie() in a module, the %hash will have no values when the function returns. It never gets modified outside of the function. How can I use the modular approach and have the original hash modified?

Here's what the module looks like: 

Package MyModule;

use Apache::Session::File;

sub tie_session {

        my $hash = {}; 

        eval {
                tie %$hash, 'Apache::Session::File',undef,
                {Directory     => $r->dir_config('Blah'),
                 LockDirectory => $r->dir_config('Blah'),
                };
        };
        return $@ if ($@);
        return $hash;
}

1;

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In reply to References, hashes, and tie() -- oh my by jacques

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