Thanx for the tip. The following code 
  my $hash = RRDs::info( $datafile );
  my $hStep = $hash->{'step'};
Dump $hStep;
$hStep='301';
Dump $hStep;
PV shows what I want in each case, but the two have different FLAGS. Any of them make any sense to you. generates: 
SV = PVIV(0x8b82158) at 0x832c55c
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (PADBUSY,PADMY,IOK,POK,pIOK,pPOK)
  IV = 300
  PV = 0x8c2ee40 "300"\0
  CUR = 3
  LEN = 4
SV = PVIV(0x8b82158) at 0x832c55c
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (PADBUSY,PADMY,POK,pPOK)
  IV = 300
  PV = 0x8c2ee40 "301"\0
  CUR = 3
  LEN = 4

In reply to Re^2: implicit numeric conversion isn't by stargrazer
in thread implicit numeric conversion isn't by stargrazer

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