My comments will be in two parts, each regarding a different possible suggested solution.
IO::File, For that Matter, Modules in General
  1. How do I know if this module is installed?
  2. If it isn't installed and I get it from CPAN, how do I install it?
  3. The IO::File node shows how to open, close, and read from a IO::File object, but not how to write to one opened for writing. Where can I get more complete information?
Typeglobs
The filehandle and passing stuff nodes seems to imply that once such a typeglob is declared in a subroutine it must be passed in to every function that wishes to use it. So I have to do it like this? 
my *bighandle = openafile();
useafile(*bighandle);

sub openafile {
  local *handle;
  open handle, "file" or die;
  return *handle;
}

sub useafile {
  local *handle = shift;
  # do stuff with *handle
}

[download]
This is a little inconvenient if I want to use this handle everywhere. Which leads me to a scoping question. Since I declared my *bighandle; at the global level, will *bighandle be visible in useafile even if I don't pass it in? How do you force a variable to be global?

Thanks again

Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle.

In reply to Re: returning filehandles by DeusVult
in thread returning filehandles by DeusVult

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