hmm... i did what you advised me to do, but with a remarkable result: 
my %el : shared  = ( 'data' => $scalar_data,
                     'atime' => time,
                     'deleted' => 0,
                     'modified' => 0
                   );
$planets{$some_id} = \%el;
lock $planets{$some_id};
# results in an error: "lock can only be used on shared values."

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In reply to Re^4: a question on sharing data structures across threads by TOD
in thread a question on sharing data structures across threads by TOD

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