I need help, please, in how to make an instance variable in a class (instead of a class variable). Have searched using google and ask.com, looked through Conway's OO Perl book online...but haven't come up with any solutions. Here's some sample code that demonstrates the problem. First, the Test package. 
package Test;

sub new {
        my $class = shift;
        my $self = {};
        bless $self, $class;
        return $self;
}

sub getValue {
        my $self = shift;
        $self{theValue};
}

sub setValue {
        my $self = shift;
        my $value = shift;
        $self{theValue} = $value;
}

[download]
Second, the test code that references the Test package. 
use Test;

my $test = new Test;
print "test is " .$test ."\n";
print "test getValue after new is " .$test->getValue() ."\n";
$test->setValue(1);
print "test getValue after setValue(1) is ". $test->getValue() ."\n";
print "\n";

my $test1 = new Test;
print "test1 is " .$test1 ."\n";
print "test1 getValue after new is " .$test1->getValue() ."\n";
#print "test getValue after test1->new is ". $test->getValue() ."\n";
$test1->setValue(2);
print "test1 getValue after setValue(2) is " .$test1->getValue() ."\n"
+;
print "test getValue after test1->setValue(2) is ". $test->getValue() 
+."\n";

[download]
Here is the output with some comments added. 
test is Test=HASH(0x88fbc20)
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at test.pl l
+ine 9. #expected
test getValue after new is
test getValue after setValue(1) is 1

test1 is Test=HASH(0x88fbde8) #different than test
test1 getValue after new is 1 #wow, test1 "inherited" the value set by
+ the test object
test1 getValue after setValue(2) is 2
test getValue after test1->setValue(2) is 2 #and now test sees 2, inst
+ead of 1

[download]
I am surprised that test1 "steps on" test because the hash keys are different for test and test1. $test->setValue(1) sets the value to 1 for the test object, but after calling $test1->setValue(2), both test and test1 report 2 when getValue is called. So it seems I have a class variable here, one that holds the same value for all instances of the class. How do I get an instance variable, where each class instance maintains its own distinct value?
Many thanks for your help. Regards, Rich

In reply to Perl class - how to create instance variable instead of class variable by richb

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