I've been debugging a simple script to rename and copy a directory of files. It's shown below (minus the comments). The first command line argument is a name stem (all target files match the $stem), the second is a range/iterator, the third is a target directory and filename. The first three prints are for debugging. 
my $stem = $ARGV[0];
my $start = $ARGV[1];
my $dir = $ARGV[2];

print "STEM: $stem\n";
print "START: $start\n";
print "DIR: $dir\n";

my $outstring;
while(<*.pdb*>){
    if(m,\.viols,){next}
    if(m,$stem,){
        chomp;               
        $outstring = $dir.$start.'.pdb';
        print `cp $_ $outstring\n`;
        $start++}}

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When I run with "use Strict" (as is my default these days, along with warnings) I get "unitialized variable messages" typically indicating I did something less-than-ideal. The print flags above show that $stem, set to $ARGV[0] is not getting defined (but the other arguments are). There is some cryptic and suspect output from Strict regarding "Subroutine bits redefined": 
Subroutine bits redefined at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/strict.pm line
+ 11.
Subroutine import redefined at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/strict.pm li
+ne 27.
Subroutine unimport redefined at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/strict.pm 
+line 32.
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at rename4li
+b.pl line 16.

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When I stop using Strict, the error messages go away and the debug prints now give the expected output. Everything's hunky dory. The ouput's as expected. Is this something regarding Strict that I don't understand (for example, does it sanity check/filter command line arguments)?

I don't want my subroutine bits defined, do I? I'm alone and frightened.

Thanks much,
ry

"I'm not afraid of Al Quaeda. I'm afraid of Al Cracker." -Chris Rock

In reply to use Strict: a rigorous way to break my command line variables? by NamfFohyr

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